Heart of Steel
by BumDiddyDum
Summary: Ayume was sentenced to be executed when she escaped and ran into the Straw Hat Pirates. Join her on her quest to find her friends and escape from an evil group of devil fruit hating people. Eventual ZoroxOC Love takes time people!
1. Prologue

Hey everyone! Welcome to my sorta first story, and yes I know that on my profile it says that I'm working on an A:TLA fic, buuuuuut I put that on hold. I'm in a One Piece writing mood :3

Eventual ZoroxOC story

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, sadly :( But I do own my character! (:

You all know what seastone is right? The stuff on the tip of Smoker's stick that neutralizes a devil fruit user's abilities? You do know? Good. ^_^

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><p>"Land sighted!"<p>

The captain looked out into the sea. A faint outline of an island could be seen over the blue surf. He smiled. By the end of the day this island, along with all the others, would be behind them on their way to Marineford.

Marineford. The name wasn't foreign to any admiral or officer in the marines, but it still struck a jolt of curiosity in their minds. He had never been to marineford in his years in the service, but that would change in a few months. As soon as he turned in this fugitive he would get the biggest raise and rise up in the ranks.

"Captain."

He looked to the left and saw a young officer standing in a salute. He nodded and the young man continued his speech.

"In three hours we will be docking at Mock Town, sir."

The captain's face turned sour in a disgusted grimace. "Mock Town, from the rumors I've heard that place should be crawling with pirate scum. We will only stay as long as it takes to reset the log-pose, no more. Tell the helmsman."

The young man bowed and rushed off across the deck. The captain turned back to the sea. He was trying to make this trip as short as possible. With a dangerous criminal in their possession, he didn't want to danger the crew and himself any longer then was necessary. She had given them enough trouble already.

He wondered how long her shackles were going to last before she was able to break though them like she did the last ones. He smirked, a girl like that shouldn't even be worth the bounty she has on her head. It seemed impossible for someone of her size and statue. Yet he got the wanted posters and captured her on the same day. It wasn't that hard after all; just capture her little friend and the female was willing to do anything he asked.

He narrowed his eyes. It was bad enough luck that he let that friend of hers escape. That means that the money he was going to get would be cut some, but it didn't matter! She was tied down with an impressive amount of sea stone. He made sure the ship's doctor carved it in her back so she couldn't remove it. That little brat had no chance of trying an escape again. Not while she was on his ship.

0~0~0~0~0

"Didn't you hear the crew? We'll be docking at Mock Town soon."

Ayume raised her head and tuned in to what the cabin boys were saying. They had just come down the stairs and started to mop the floor in the cell hall. She had been ignoring their conversation as they mopped the floor and scrubbed the windows, but now they were talking about something that could be of use to her.

"Isn't that place practically a pirate town?" one asked, ringing out a mop.

"Yeah it is! Meaning we should get to see some action, right? It's been boring out here after Ghost got grounded." The other added with a side look to the girl in the cell. She met his gaze and his eyes widened and he quickly turned back to his friend. "Anyways, we better get up and swab the deck, lunch will be served soon and I want to get there before all the good stuff is taken!"

They both exited the cell hall, leaving Ayume by herself. She laughed quietly. Cabin boys were so stupid sometimes. Thanks to them she now knew the time of the day and where they were located: it was sometime around noon and they were in the Grand Line. She had been in the same cell for three months so far, but it could have been longer than that.

They had shut her off from the outside after she attempted her big escape. No one was allowed to tell her where they were or what time it was, anything that she could be used to plan another escape again, basically.

Ayume stretched her arms out and winced. She had weakened during her stay in this cell. It was mostly cause by the seastone indented in her back, but some of it was physical to. She was thinner and had lost a lot of muscle. Bruises covered her body and she knew that some bones were broken, maybe a rib or two, for every time she stood up her stomach was met with a searing pain, but she never showed weakness to anybody on the ship. They were the ones responsible to her current state after all.

'Soon Ava, soon I'll be out of here, just like I promised.'

0~0~0~0~0

"Sir, the log-pose is set; we're ready to set sail."

"Very well, pull up the anchor, it's time to leave."

"Yes sir!" The man saluted and walked off.

The sea breeze struck the captain in the face as he turned back around to the sea.

'That place was a nightmare.' He thought. Pirates at every turn and lousy service at the bars had set the captain in a bad mood. Right now he just wanted to eat dinner and go to bed.

"SHE'S GONE!" A voice suddenly yelled from under deck.

The captain froze. No. There was no way that this could happen to him. Not now after all the work they did to keep the little bitch in her place. She shouldn't even have the strength to stand up, let alone make her way out of the jail cell.

A head popped out from the wooden door.

"Captain, Ghost is gone!"

"WHAT!" He stormed down to where the man was standing halfway in the ship and grabbed him by his shirt, pulling him up. "How could you let this happen! Didn't you notice that our only prisoner is missing?" He screamed at the man, who flinched at his furious face.

"S-sorry sir, she stuffed her bed, I thought she was sleeping!"

The captain screamed in frustration and threw the man to the side. "Turn this ship around! We need to go back and capture her again!"

"We can't sir, the log-pose is already set and we lost sight of the island ten minutes ago."

The captain turned around to the person who spoke. "I don't care. We need to get that girl back under our control. We've already alerted Marineford that she has been captured, if we tell them now that we let her escape they won't believe anything we say ever again and I may lose my job!" He looked around. "Turn this ship around; we're heading back to Jaya!" He ordered.

"SIR, YES, SIR!" His men answered.

The captain gripped the rail of the ship. She wouldn't escape from his grasp, not this time. He would get her back and get his money and fame; after all he did deserve it.

0~0~0~0~0

Ayume stared out at the marine ship that was leaving the island. It was only a matter of time before they would notice that she wasn't in the cell, but hopefully it would be when the island was long behind them and they couldn't turn back and find her.

She started walking down the boardwalk. Her stomach roared and she knew her first priority was to get some food, but she didn't have any money.

'How am I going to get some food?'

Looking around, it seemed that this really was a pirate town. All the people looked scruffy and distrustful, meaning that she probably wouldn't get much from begging, but it was the only thing she could do. She didn't have the strength to get a job or work for food.

She looked up and saw a middle aged woman leaving a bar.

"Might as well give it a try.' Ayume thought as she walked up to the lady.

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><p>Well how was it? I hope it was good ._. If not than tough nuts!<p>

And sorry about the short first chapter 0.o but hey, it's a prologue! Most prologues are short right? Anyways, I'll get chapter one up when I write it... which will be when I have free time. Pshhhhh that might be a while, cause I'm just soooo swamped with... important things...


	2. Chapter One

Yes! I updated again! And it was within the week to, so you should all be proud of me. *AHEM* I would like to thank UnperfectButLovingIt for submitting the first review! That makes you numbah one baby! :3 I would also like to thank those people who submitted me to their story alets list. Hehe that was way more than I expected, and I only had one chapter up!

Ayume: Watch out or your head's gonna explode from all that concitedness.

Thanks... T.T And it wasn't concitedness.

Eventual ZoroXOC Story

Disclaimer: I do not own this amazing show...

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><p>"Get out of here!" The woman slammed her purse on top of Ayume's head. "If you need money, work for it! Don't expect someone to just hand it to you! Gosh you're no worse than the pirate's in this god damn town." She huffed and walked off, leaving Ayume in the middle of the street. Everyone standing near her saw her dust her head off and scowl.<p>

"Well a simple no would have been enough." She surveyed the passerby's surrounding her and sighed. "It's not polite to stare, you know." She said loud enough so they could hear.

Most of them blushed and turned away from her, except for a couple of guys and a girl in a yellow dress. Ayume stared at them and held their gaze for a couple of seconds until she turned around and walked down the street in the opposite way.

'Who were they?' She thought as she stepped around a small puddle.

She's been in this town for a day and she already hates it. The people here were rude and disgusting. She hasn't had a single thing to eat since she escaped of the marine ship, either. She was reminded of her hunger when her stomach let out a large growl.

Ayume sat down on a barrel outside a small tavern. Leaning against the wall, she closed her eyes and started to doze off.

"What the hell are you doing? Get off my barrels you lousy kid!" Suddenly, Ayume's seat was pulled out from under her and she fell on the ground.

Rubbing her back she glared up at the man. He had on a wife beater and tattoos on both of his arms. Ayume started to giggle when she saw his face.

"What's so funny!"

"Your moustache looks like a comb." She said, still laughing. Aymue looked back up at him, her eyes widening. "Hey, wait a min-"

BONK!

"OW! That hurt you old geezer!" She yelled cupping her head, which now had a bump on it from the man's hit.

"Then don't make fun of your elders!" He screamed back.

Ayume say back down on the ground and crossed her arms. "Hmph, you wouldn't be saying that if you knew who I was!"

"And who would that be, an annoying kid trying to scam people for money?"

"I don't scam people! And I'm not gonna tell you!" She added turning her back on him.

"Than why mention it to me!" He yelled. Ayume just shrugged her shoulders. "Damn kids." He muttered as he grabbed the barrel and walked back into the tavern, leaving Ayume alone.

She ran her fingers through her black hair. Of course he didn't know who she was. She looked nothing like her picture on her wanted poster. In the picture she had silver hair and it was pulled up in a pony tail, she knew this because her captors had shown her how much money she was worth after they locked her up in that cell. Even then she didn't know how much the bounty had risen. It still shocked her whenever she thought about it.

'69 million is a lot of money. I'm sure they made a mistake when they published that.' She thought, once again leaning into the side of the building.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a group of three enter the bar. There were two guys and a girl, who had on a striped tank to and an orange skirt with circles on the sides. The door was left swinging as she watched them enter the bar.

Ayume looked down at her own clothes. She was wearing a raggedy white t-shirt that was too small for her and a pair of baggy brown pants. She had on no shoes, but that she didn't mind, for her feet were calloused from years of not wearing them.

She was sure she smelled too. She reached her arm up and took a sniff of her armpit.

'Whew, I was right. I need a shower.' She thought as she made a face.

Ayume thought about walking into the bar to ask that man if he could spare her some clothes, but she knew that he wouldn't have any for her in her size and after their little spat, she doubted he would lend her some anyways. She let out a long, frustrated sigh. She still hadn't eaten anything and it had already been 2 days. This begging thing hadn't been working so well for her.

"You need some help miss?"

She looked up and saw a giant man with curly black hair and a white shirt opened up to show his chest. He seemed middle aged and he had on a goofy grin.

"Depends, why do you want to help me?"

"I just thought you looked hungry. If you don't want some pie, that's fine." He was about to turn around when Ayume grabbed his arm.

"Actually", she said, "I'll take some pie." She added a smile as he handed her a cherry pie.

He took a seat next to her. "Say, you look kind of familiar."

"Do I?"

"Yeah, I'm sure I've seen your picture before somewhere." He stared at her face as she took another bite. "Hm, maybe I'm mistaken. There's no way you could be her."

Ayume stopped eating. He must be talking about her wanted poster. She smiled. "No way I could be who?"

"Ghost. I thought you looked like her a little bit, but there's no way that you could be her. She wouldn't be sitting here all bruised up, looking like she just escaped from prison." He paused. "How did you get all beat up anyways? You look like you havn't eaten in weeks!"

She was about to answer when a giant crash echoed from inside the bar.

"What was that!" She practically yelled as she stood up and looked into the window. She couldn't see anything due to the massive amount of people inside.

The guy waved his hand. "Oh calm down, little lady. It's probably just Bellamy starting trouble again."

She turned to him. "Who's Bellamy?"

He spit his drink out and started laughing. "You've got to be the only person in this town besides those three kids in there that doesn't know who Bellamy is!"

"So who is he?"

"Eh, he's nothing but a pirate who thinks he's so great cause he has a 55 million beli bounty, but he's just an arrogant runt who thinks he runs this town, and he's only been here for a few weeks at the most."

Ayume gritted her teeth. She hated people like that, and wished that she could put him in his place as she heard who she assumed must be Bellamy antagonizing some people in the tavern.

"Not fighting, a weakling that's actually worth 30 million beli's makes me wonder how strong he would be!" Ayume stood up and looked into the window. Standing there was a man with blonde hair and a drink in his grasp. He was in front of two guys; the first one was lean and kind of tall, taller than her if she stood up. The second on was muscular, tall, and tan. She noted his green hair and the three swords by his side.

"Ha-ha, it really is a disappointment. This is the first time I've met these kinds of chicken shits." Bellamy spit his drink on the two pirates standing there and the tavern started laughing, thinking it was hilarious.

Ayume thought it was stupid. She let go of the rail of the window and stalked off, leaving a half eaten pie and the man staring after her.

She had her hands clenched in fists, fighting the urge to go back there and confront Bellamy.

'I know I can't. Right now I'm weak and powerless. If I did than I would certainly be in worse shape than I am now.' She sighed, letting herself relax. 'I wish that I could find a doctor in this town. There's got to be someone who knows how to remove this seastone from my back.'

Ayume turned a corner and ran into something hard. She fell backwards a good three feet, landing on her butt.

"Ouch…."

"Hey little girl, you need to watch where you're going."

Ayume looked up into the angry gaze of a young man and a woman. He had an arm around her waist. She looked like she was in pain as she held her stomach.

"Little girl? I'm not much younger than you or your little girlfriend by the looks of it." She commented, getting up and brushing herself off. "And besides, you weren't watching where you were going just as much as me."

"Excuse me? Do you know who you're talking to?" He demanded as he started to walk towards her.

His girlfriend put an arm out to stop him. "Wait, Galvan. Leave her alone. There's no need to waste your time on lousy scum who can't even afford to take a bath." She smirked when she saw Ayume's expression turn sour. "I mean you might get her fleas."

"Listen here, bitch," The woman's eyes widened as Ayume continued. "You have no idea what happened to me or who I am, so I suggest you take your little attitude and walk away before you start something you can't finish."

"What the hell! W-who do you think you are, you whore!" She yelled as she raised her hand, getting ready to strike her.

As the woman brought her arm down, Ayume rushed forward and grabbed her by the wrist. Her other hand was brought to the back of her neck and she turned around, bringing the woman to the ground. She landed with an oof and raised her head, wiping the side of her cheek.

"I can't believe you threw me to the ground! What kind of crazy psycho are you?"

"What! You're the one who tried to hit me just now, you idiot!" Ayume shark-yelled. She then stopped and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Ah, never mind. I don't want to waste my time with you people." She said and turned around to walk away.

A hand then reached out and grabbed her by the arm. The person forcefully turned her around and she was met with the furious face of the woman's boyfriend.

"You think you can just hurt my girl and get away with it?" He demanded.

Ayume paused. "Your breath smells like farts." She said, her face as passive as stone.

The guy froze then used his remaining hand to grab her other arm. He bent his knees and tossed her into the side of a house. She hit it with a crash and landed in a pile of rubble. Ayume stood up and looked at the hole she made in the wall.

"You're pretty strong, do you work out?" She asked as she looked at him.

He stalked up to her and grabbed her by the shirt, bringing her to his eye level.

"I hate arrogant people like you, you know that. Now I think that you owe my girlfriend an apology." He demanded his eyes narrowed into slits.

Ayume turned her head and looked at the woman sitting on the ground.

"I'm sorry you don't watch where you're going."

The man deadpanned. "That wasn't what I meant!" he shark-yelled. He then dropped her and swung his hand back. Ayume sat up and was about to intercept the punch, but stopped when a sword got in her way, hovering at the man's neck.

"Wha-" The man froze and started to tremble a little.

Ayume turned and saw the green-haired guy from the bar. He had blood soaked in his white shirt and all over his body and his eyes were calmly looking at the scene he just interrupted.

"D-do you want to fight!" The man challenged, turning his fists to him.

"No." He said and used the hilt of his sword to knock the man to the side.

He fell on the ground next to his girlfriend.

"Galvan!" She exclaimed.

He stood up with her. "Let's go, we don't want to waist our time with these savage people."

"You're the ones who tried to hit me!" Ayume screamed after them as they rushed off. She shook her head as she got up. "Thank you, but I didn't need your help." She added with a side look at the swordsman.

He glanced at her. "Don't thank me, thank him." He said with a gesture towards the kid wearing the straw hat. "He's the one who told me to intervene."

Next to him was the girl wearing the stripped tank top, reminding Ayume, once again, of her raggedy appearance.

'I must not look to bad, though. Both of these guys are covered in blood.'

"Why did you help me?" She asked him.

"Cause you looked like you needed it." He simply stated.

"Excuse me," She looked at the red head. "But you look kind of worn out. Are you ok?" She asked.

Ayume smiled. "Better than I've been in a while actually!" She replied as she rubbed the back of her head.

The girl looked confused. "But your all beat up."

"Trust me, I've had worse."

"What could a girl like you possibly get herself into that's worse then what you look like now?" The green-haired man asked.

Ayume looked to the ground. "You'd be surprised." Was all she replied with. After a few seconds of silence, she looked back up at them with a smile. "Well, I'm off to find a doctor!"

"We have a doctor!" The straw hat kid yelled excitedly. "You can get treated on my ship! It's not too far from here!"

"You do? Is he a good doctor?"

"The very best!" He said with a toothy grin.

"Come on, he'll get you fixed up." The red head added with a gesture for her to follow.

The three of them started to walk down the street as Ayume hurried to catch up. She ended up standing between the swordsman and the girl.

"So what are your names?" Ayume asked.

"I'm Luffy! And that's Zoro and Nami. Nami's our navigator!"

"I'm Ayume. So I take it you're all pirates?"

"You bet we are!" Luffy said proudly. "What about you? Are you a pirate? How did you get those bruises? Do you live here?"

"Luffy, Shut up! You can ask her those questions after she's seen Chopper!" Nami yelled at him, hitting him on the head.

"Ow, Nami, that hurt!" He pouted.

Ayume giggled at their antics as they continued to squabble.

"So what happened to you?" She turned to Zoro. He was staring straight ahead with his hands in his pockets.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"How did you get all beat up?" he asked again, looking sideways at her.

"Well, I kind of escaped from some marines, but it's cool because their log-pose is already set for the next island, so they can't come back here."

"You escaped from the marines?" Luffy was suddenly in front of Ayume's face, his eyes wide. "How cool! What did you do? Why did they capture you? Are you a pirate, too? Did the marines give you those bruises and starve you? Cause you look really skinny, but we can change that. Sanji can cook you up a yummy meal!"

'This kid has too much energy.' She thought as she sweatdropped. "Sanji?"

"Yeah, he's our ship's cook!"

"What is with you Luffy? Do you want her to join the crew or something?" Zoro asked him.

"Yeah! That's a great idea! You can join the crew! Since you just escaped from the marines, it's not like you have any place to go to." He started jumping in the air. "I have a new crew member!"

"I havn't even said anything yet!" Ayume shark-yelled. "And besides, why would you want me in your crew? I'm not even a pirate!"

"Cause you're funny! And that's ok; Zoro wasn't a pirate before he joined me!" Luffy pointed out.

Ayume looked at the swordsman. "I thought you looked familiar. Now I know why, your Roronoa Zoro, the pirate hunter. Or ex-pirate hunter would be more accurate, since you're a pirate now." She thought as she tapped her chin.

As they came to the edge of the dock, Ayume took in the small ship in front of her. It looked beat up and had a rams head on the bow.

"Luffy! Zoro! What's with those wounds? What happened!"

Ayume looked up and saw three figures leaning over the railing. The one who spoke was a tanned guy with a really long nose.

"Nami-swan!" yelled the blonde one. "Are you alright Nami-swan!"

The smallest one screamed out doctor, while big-nose slapped him on the back of the head and yelled, "You're the doctor so give them some first-aid!"

"Hey guys, meet our new crew member!" Luffy exclaimed, as he pulled Ayume in front of him.

"I never said-" She was interrupted when someone suddenly grabbed her hand.

"Oh the heavens have blessed me on this fine day! I can't wait to spend my days and nights out on the sea with your ravishing beauty, my sweet princess!"

"Lay off her Sanji, she's injured!" Nami yelled as she bonked him on the head.

"Oh Nami-swan, if you're jealous all you have to do is say so!" He said as he went in for a hug.

'So this is their chef, huh?' Ayume watched as Nami's foot connected with his face and pushed him to the ground. He was still fawning over her as she stepped all over him. 'What is wrong with this crew?' She thought as she sweatdropped again.

0~0~0~0~0

"So let me get this straight, you're a reindeer?"

"Sure am!" Chopper exclaimed as he got out a bunch of examining equipment.

"Who's a doctor? This has got to be the weirdest thing I have ever seen." Ayume paused. "But it's so cute too! You have the most adorable voice in the world!" She gushed.

"Oh stop, you stupid human! Compliments like that don't make me happy!" Chopper said as he did his dance.

Ayume smiled. 'Yeah, sure they don't.' She thought.

It had been 30 minutes after the pirate crew had set sail. Nami had given her some of her clothes (a pair of black shorts and a yellow t-shirt) and let her take a shower after she was introduced to everyone. Now Ayume was all clean and ready to get herself patched up. She had refused to let Chopper tend to her wounds until he got his crew members fixed up first, much to the protestment of Sanji, who insisted that you help a lady before the others. .

"So how did you get all bruised up?" Chopper asked as he grabbed a pile of bandages.

"Oh I escaped from a bunch of marines. They had me in a jail cell for a full three months with barely and food or water. They would make sure I was too weak to escape, but they didn't have to go so far as to injure me, the bastards. I was already weak enough as it is" She added with a scowl.

"You escaped from the marines? Why did they have you locked up?" Chopper finished bandaging the last cut and turned around to put away the bandages.

Ayume hesitated. Chopper noticed this and set down his things.

"You can tell me. I mean we are crewmates after all and if you're a wanted criminal, it's not like we could tell. We're wanted to!"

"I'm not your crewmate." Ayume said.

"Why not? Luffy asked you to be."

"Just because someone asks for something, doesn't mean that they'll get it."

"Well you obviously don't know our captain." The door opened up as Nami stepped in the room. "Whenever he asks someone to join, he usually get's what he wants." Nami looked at Ayume once over and smiled. "I see Chopper has gotten you all fixed up, you're looking much better."

"I feel much better after that shower."

"Did the marines really keep you in a cell for three months?" Nami questioned, as she sat down on the cot next to Ayume.

"He he, you heard that, I see." Ayume swallowed. "Yeah they did. Me and my best friend were captured. I helped her escape and they kept me in a cell after that, locked away from the outside. I was never allowed to know where we were or what time it was."

"Who was your friend?"

"Her name was Ava." Ayume said, not wanting to give away more than that.

Nami was about to ask another question when Chopper interrupted her.

"So are you really gonna join us?"

"I don't know…" Ayume trailed off. Joining a pirate crew? That would be a little crazy and it would probably get in the way of her real job. It has been two days since she escaped, meaning that word must have gotten out that she was free now.

"Do you have anywhere else to go to?" Nami demanded.

"No, not at the moment."

"Then you can join our crew. It doesn't really matter if you don't have a real job on the ship, you can make yourself one! All I know is that Luffy wants you to be out nakama." When Ayume didn't respond, Nami continued. "Just stay with us for a while, I'm sure that you'll love it on our ship and change your mind." She patted Ayume on the arm and left the room.

"So what's my diagnosis Doc?" Ayume asked Chopper.

"Well, you're going to need to stay in bed for a while. You have a broken rib and a sprained wrist, but other than that you're not as beat up as I thought you were."

"So that's why you put extra bandages here." Ayume raised her and examined Chopper's handy work. "You're a very good doctor Chopped, thank you."

"Shut up you bastard! I don't need your praise!" He yelled as he did his dance. "I'm going to need to sedate you while I fix your rib. You're going to be passed out for a couple of hours."

"Sounds fine with me." Ayume lay back down on the bed. Chopped grabbed a needle and injected her with it. Soon, Ayume was fast asleep.

0~0~0~0~0

"Ussop?" Chopper called as he made his way on deck. "What just happened?" the little reindeer asked as he surveyed the damage on the ship.

"Some giant orangutan with a karaoke machine just damaged out ship!" Ussop responded, angrily hammering planks to the side of the ship. "Make yourself useful Chopper, and help us."

"This boat got destroyed in one day; don't we need a new one?" Zoro asked, while working on the mast.

"WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP WITH THAT?" Ussop shark-yelled. "Don't you know remember where this ship came from?"

"Chopper!" Chopper turned his head and looked into the excited face of his captain. "How is Ayume? Is she ready to join the crew?"

"She's fine; I just got done fixing her ribs. She should be waking up soon, actually."

"Alright!" Luffy exclaimed as he ran off into the ship.

"Don't wake her you idiot, she needs time to rest!" Zoro yelled after him. He shook his head when he heard a scream followed by the voice of his moronic captain and continued fixing the mast.

"He's an idiot." Nami muttered under her breath.

"GOMU GOMU NO PISTOL!"

Everyone froze. Luffy's call was followed by a loud crash and another scream from Ayume.

"Did you just try to hit me!"

With a shared glance, the straw hat pirates rushed down to Chopper's medical room to see what was going on. When they opened the door, they were met with the sight of a very pissed of Luffy and a confused and angry looking Ayume. The bed that she was using was now broken, along with part of the wall, which was cracked.

"LUFFY!" Nami screamed as she shoved her way into the room. "What the hell is going on here!"

Luffy took one last look at Ayume before answering. "She lied to us. She's part of the marines!" He explained with a finger pointing at the outraged girl standing in the corner.

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><p>That one was a short chapter too! 4,069 words on Word Document isn't as big as I thought it would be.<p>

I would have written more but i thought I would give you a cliffhanger! MUAHAHAHAHA *cough* Ahem

Anyways, review please :3 It would make my day!


	3. Chapter Two

Yes! The second chapter has arrived! The reason I'm so excited? I've stayed up all night writing this thing... so you all better be grateful!

Eventual ZoroxOC Story

Disclaimer: You really think I'm that good of a writer? PSHHHHHH

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><p><em>'She lied to us. She's part of the marines!"<em>

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><p>"What!" The crew yelled with shark-teeth.<p>

"She's been in the marines this whole time!" Ussop screeched, shock heard in his scream.

"I can't believe the lovely lady had to be a traitor to her crew." Sanji wept with anime tears.

"I'm not part of your crew!" Ayume yelled.

"Damn right you're not!" Luffy screamed. "We don't want a filthy marine like you!"

"Luffy, how do you know she's part of the marines?" Robin broke in, brushing past everyone to step into the room.

"Cause she has a tattoo of the marines on her back!"

"Well that settles it; she's part of the marines." Zoro grunted. He was standing in the doorway with his arms folded across his chest.

"I am not!" Ayume yelled, glaring at him as she stepped forward to face Luffy. "I'm kind of hurt that you just assumed that I was part of the marines because you thought you saw a tattoo of their symbol on my back!"

"So you don't have a tattoo?" Ussop asked.

"She does!" Luffy repeated. "I saw it!"

"Do you?" Nami questioned.

Ayume hesitated and that was enough to make Luffy grab her and drag her out of the cabin. She screamed in protest as she was dragged up the stairs and thrown on the deck without mercy.

"Why did you lie to us!" Luffy demanded

"I never lied to you! Now, will you just let me explain?" Ayume retorted.

Luffy noticed the change in her demeanor and calmed down a little bit.

"Fine, but if you try any funny tricks than I'm gonna toss you off this boat."

She rolled her eyes and turned around. The rest of the crew had just arrived on the deck when she started to roll her shirt up.

"Ayume-chwaaaan's taking her shirt off!" Came the love-sick scream of Sanji.

"AYUME!" Nami screamed. "Why are you-" She didn't get to say that much when she saw the black shape of the marine symbol in Ayume's backside.

It was large and covered the entire lower half of her back, but anyone could easily tell it was not a tattoo. The thinnest lines were at least an inch thick in diameter and covered with what looked like glossy paint finish. Whatever they used made the mark shine in the sunlight. The area around the mark was red and scarred, like a burn, showing that whenever the mark was made it was not a pleasant experience.

"Ayume…. What is that?" Chopper asked, hesitantly.

Luffy walked up to it and poked the mark. "It's made of stone." He said. "But what kind?" Luffy didn't get to finish his question, for he suddenly slumped to the ground. When he stopped touching Ayume's mark, he jumped back up.

"What did you do!" He accused her, reaching his arm back.

"Geez, you idiot." Zoro insulted as he walked up and placed a hand on the stone tattoo. Ayume tensed at the feeling of his warm fingers. "It's obviously seastone, since it made you go weak." He stopped tracing at the middle of the mark. "And a lot by the feel of it. This seastone is imbedded deep in her skin."

Ayume sweatdropped, "I'm right here ya know." Zoro seemed to realize what he was doing and stepped back away from her so she could put her shirt down.

"Seastone?" Chopper asked.

"It neutralizes a devil user's ability." Robin explained. "Basically, it's like a solid version of the sea."

"Wait a minute!" Luffy exclaimed. He rushed forward and hovered his face directly in front of hers. "Does this mean you ate a devil fruit?"

"Yes, I did."

'No use trying to hide it.' Ayume thought. 'If I told them no, they would go on thinking it was just a normal tattoo and throw me over board.'

"So that means that the marines must have put the seastone in your back!" Ussop realized, slamming his fist into his palm. "Meaning that she isn't with them after all." He explained to the crew.

"So you're still a part of our nakama!" Luffy yelled with joy.

"I never said that I would join you, you idiot!"

"Um, Ayume?" Ayume turned her head to Chopper. "What devil fruit did you eat?"

"My Ayume-Chwan must be so powerful to have that much seastone in her back!" Sanji said, his eyes dancing like hearts and Ayume breathed out a sigh of relief at Sanji's interruption.

She didn't want to tell them what her abilities were. That was something that she always kept a secret, no matter who she trusted. 'And I'm sure that the ex bounty hunter would know who I was of he knew what devil fruit I ate.' She thought to herself, a side look towards the swordsman, remembering that Zoro has probably seen almost every wanted poster of men with bigger than normal bounties.

"Is that why you were looking for a doctor?" Luffy asked. "So they could get that seastone out of your back?"

"Yep!" She turned to Chopper. "Do you think you could?"

"I can try, Ayume! But I'll need to gather some more bandages somewhere because I don't have enough on me." Ha paused. "You know that this will leave a pretty big scar, right?"

"It's ok, Chopper. I kind of figured, but I'm in no hurry, though." She added. "It's already been three months, so what are a couple of more days, right?"

"Would you like me to prepare you some snacks, my beautiful Ayume-Chwaaaaan?" Sanji suddenly asked, appearing in front of her. "I'm sure after that rude awakening from your nap your hungry right?"

"No thanks… I'm not hungry." She said with a straight face. Sanji slumped at her rejection.

"I am, Sanji!" Luffy yelled. "Make me some meat!"

Sanji and Luffy went off into the kitchen, Ussop soon followed them. Nami and Robin made their way to the upper deck, leaving Ayume standing next to Zoro, who plopped down on the floor and leaned against the railing.

"Aren't you tired?" He asked, his eyes closed.

She glanced at him. "No, I was sleeping just before Luffy woke me up."

"That's not what I mean." He opened his eyes and looked at her. "When Luffy even touches a small fraction of the stuff, he loses all his energy, but you seem to have about three pounds of it in your back." His eyes were drilling curious holes into her head and she felt uncomfortable under his gaze. "Why aren't you a crumpled heap on the floor? You must feel exhausted, don't you?"

"Yes." She said, walking forward to lean on the railing. "All the time, but I've gotten used to it." She let out a breath as she stared out into the sea. "It's a battle everyday and a burden every time I need to move or fight, but I make it through, so there's no need to worry." She added looking back at him with the corner of her eyes.

He scoffed. "I never said that I was worried. I was just curious." Zoro leaned back again and closed his eyes. Soon, Ayume could head his gentle breathing.

'He's comfortable enough on this ship and go to sleep anywhere.' She observed, watching his chest fall in and out with every breath. Her eyes traveled to the three swords hanging by his side. With a pang she realized that her weapon was left at the marine ship, forgotten.

'Oh well. It's not like they could pick up the damn thing anyways.' She snickered as she remembered when they tried to take it from her. The officer was weighed to the ground by her silver bow staff. It took at least ten normal bodied men to haul it to the weapons room. She knew that they performed tests on it to try and find out what it was made of, but she told them that it was all in vain; she made it, so only she knew what was in it and what could make it break, which was nothing.

Ayume sighed and looked up at the clouds.

'I need this crap out of my back before I get into some serious shit.'

0~0~0~0~0

"You look like a monkey and you look like an orangutan." Ayume began, pointing at the two figures in front of her.

"I'm a human!" The monkey yelled.

"The orangutan laughed at his outburst. "Calm down, Masira. She doesn't know of our amazing-ness yet."

"I guess you're right, Shojo." The monkey deflated and sat down next to his brother. "I'm Masira, leader of the Masira Pirates!" He declared proudly. "And this is my brother, Shojo." He added pointing to the ape.

"I'm leader of the Shojo Pirates." Orangutan man boasted. "But I'm sure you're already familiar with that famous name."

"Nope." Ayume answered. "Afraid not."

"I've heard of you before!" Luffy exclaimed from his spot next to Ayume. She scowled and covered her left ear.

"That's cause you've already met them Luffy!" She heard Ussop yell at him.

"I'm right here ya know! Geez, little monkey knows how to yell." She muttered, cradling her ear.

"I'm not the monkey! Those two are!" He defended pointing at Masira and Shojo.

"WE'VE TOLD YOU BEFORE! WE'RE HUMANS!" They both hollered, their teeth turning sharp.

Chopper poked his head out from the doorway of the small wooden hut. "Luffy! He's awake!" He informed his captain.

Luffy immediately got up and walked to the house. "He's awake? Good! Hey, Mr. Diamond-Head, I want to ask you something."

Ayume walked behind him and looked at the man who was sitting up in the bed. He was tall and had a lot of muscle packed onto his body. 'Probably from all those deep underwater swims.' She thought.

As the man, Criket was his name, apologized for attacking them earlier; Ayume rubbed the underside of her wrist. She gazed around the small hut, taking in all the little trinkets he had. She sat down on a wooden chair that was sitting by a table and absentmindedly listened in on their conversation about Skypeia and Noland the Liar.

'An island in the sky? No way, that's just not possible.' She blinked. 'But then again, nothing it impossible in the Grand Line.'

Ayume has only been in the grand line for a year. The only reason she entered was for her business she used to keep her and Ava well fed and fully clothed. She sighed and laid her head on the table as memories of her and her best friend came flooding to her mind. There were some happy memories, but most of them were unpleasant and painful to think about.

Ayume got up and walked out of the room, not really caring about what the pirate crew was trying to get out of Criket, after she was back to full health she would be on her way anyways. She plopped herself down on the grass outside the doorway, closing her eyes and listening to the two monkey brothers argue.

Thirty minutes later she was shaken awake. Ayume opened her eyes groggily and looked up at the person who woke her.

"Oh, hey Chopper. What is it?"

"If you don't mind, can I take a look at your back? I want to know what I'm dealing with before I get the chance to operate on it."

Ayume blinked then stood up. "Sure thing Chopper!"

When she was situated in Criket's bed she turned her head to the little reindeer examining her back. "Don't you want to listen to what that old man has to say?" She asked, hearing the voices outside.

"Huh? Oh, the other's will just inform me later and besides, I want to know how soon I'll be able to take the seastone out." He added with a smile.

Chopper pulled her shirt down and got off the bed. "It seems that I could take it out now if Criket has some bandages. I used the rest I had fixing him up earlier." He said sheepishly.

"Sounds good to me."

"Oh Ayume-Chwaaaaaan~!" Sanji cooed. "I have a meal prepared for you me dear!"

A plate of food was placed on her lap, and Ayume thanked Sanji. His eyes turned into heart as the monkey brothers ran out to inform the rest of them that the food was ready. Soon they all came rushing in the small house and the room was full of party happy pirates.

Ayume sipped some of the ale-like substance that was given to her. She winced at its nasty taste, but drank the rest of it. She preferred vodka or some hard liquor to get her drunk faster. She then thought that it was a good thing that she didn't have any. Now was not the time to be getting wasted with some people she just met, even if they took care of her until now there was no real reason to trust them.

Ayume was pulled out of her thoughts when Criket started rambling on about gold that Noland the Liar found. The Straw-hat Pirates cheered on the idea of going to an island in the sky and Ayume shook her head that their sense of adventure.

"Take a look at this!" Criket ordered the crew as he pulled out a cloth. He tore the cloth off to revile a golden bell. Ayume stared at it, noticing the way it shined and sparkled.

Luffy's eyes bulged out. "WOW, A GOLDEN BELL!"

"Nami grabbed it as Ussop started questioning the old man.

"This is not the one mentioned in Noland's log. This is a bell-shaped token. We found three in the sea bed." Criket explained.

Luffy grinned. "So the golden city did exist after all right?"

After a few more words were said, Criket pulled out one last gold piece. It was shaped like a bird, but one that Ayume had never seen before.

Criket started laughing. "Ha-ha! Ten years and I've only found these things! Really not worth it."

"Wow, it's so pretty!"

"What's this, a penguin?"

"Bird holding a golden bell... Could this be the symbol of Jaya?" Sanji asked.

Criket turned to him. "Not sure, however, I believe that this is part of some greater symbol." He put his hand on the golden bird's head. "These things are called "south birds". They still exist on the island."

"Their chirping sounds weird right?" Luffy asked.

"Yes, like described in the diary."

Masira raised his hand. "Speaking of a south bird, ever since long ago the sailors-"

"DAMNIT!"

The whole room jumped at the outburst.

"You have to go to the forest right away!" Criket ordered them. "You need to catch one of these birds!"

"WHAT? Why?" Ussop demanded

"Listen here, the knock up stream that exists directly south of here, how do you think you'll get there?"

Luffy looked at Criket with a serious face. "Just sail south of here."

"No this is the Grand Line! Once you set sail you lose all sense of directions!"

Nami brightened up. "Oh that's right. Since our destination isn't an island, but part of the sea."

"That's why you need the bird. It is said that some animals contain a bio-compass enhancing their sense of direction." Criket explained.

Luffy turned to Zoro with a grin. "So that means you're worse than some animals."

"AND WHO ARE YOU TO JUDGE!" He yelled, with a tick mark on his head.

Ayume snickered and looked at him. "Is your sense of direction really that bad?" She asked him. He just snorted and turned his head away from her.

"Among those animals, a south bird has the best sense of direction. No matter how far away you move the bird, it will always point in the right direction." He explained. "Meaning you can't do anything without a bird like that! You won't be able to even try getting on sky island!"

"How come you just mentioned this now!" Ussop yelled at him.

"Quit complaining! There's no time to waste!" Criket informed as he grabbed three nets and shoved them outside. "You must bring one back before daybreak or you won't have a chance of getting to Skypeia! The three of us will enhance your crappy ship now, just get going!"

"Stupid old geezer." Nami muttered. "She then grabbed one of the nets and threw it to Sanji. "Let's go and get this over with." She said as she headed to the woods.

Everyone else followed her, but Ayume stayed behind. 'Why did the old man push me outside to? Does he think I'm part of the crew?'

"Hey!" She turned her head to the woods. The pirates were standing there at the edge, waiting for her to come along. "Hurry up or we'll leave you behind!" Luffy exclaimed.

"What! Who said I was coming with you stupid!" Ayume yelled back at him.

Nami and Zoro both walked over to her.

"You are a part of the crew, right?" Before Ayume could protest, she shoved her forward towards the woods.

"So that means you pull your weight in the group." Zoro said, stopping Ayume when she tried to turn around. She shook off Zoro's hand and huffed.

"I never said that I would join. So that mean's I'm not part of your crew, also meaning I'm not going on a wild goose chase for some dumb bird."

"To bad." Zoro said with a sly snicker as he stopped another attempt to brush past him.

Luffy chuckled as they headed into the forest. "But you will be!" He said, putting an arm around her shoulder and leading the way. "Soon, you'll be part of my nakama!"

0~0~0~0~0

"Stupid forest, stupid tree branch…"

"AH, LOOK I CAUGHT ONE!"

Ayume, who was lagging behind, bolted to where Luffy was crouched near the ground.

"You caught the bird! Great now we can-" She stopped when Luffy proclaimed he had found an atlasu beetle. An angry tick mark popped up as she bonked him and Chopper on the head. "Stupid strawhat."

"Ow, Ayume, why did you hit me?" The little reindeer whined as he rubbed his noggin.

"For admiring the damn thing."

"Luffy, there's another one!" Chopper declared, suddenly standing by a tree.

Luffy's jaw hit the ground. "CATCH IT!"

The both flew after the beetle with Ayume running after them screaming threats and cuss words.

~Bonk~

"Huh?" They all stopped when a round yellow ball fell down in front of them.

"It's buzzing." Ayume noticed as she walked up to it and knocked on the thing. After she did, giant bees surged out of it.

"IT'S A BEEHIVE! RUN!" Luffy and Chopper took off running with the bees right behind them, leaving Ayume alone in the dark.

"HEY! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!" She yelled, taking off after them, but they were already gone. She took a look around the forest and suppressed a shudder.

"Stupid darkness, stupid bees, STUPID STRAWHAT!" She covered her arms and felt a chill coming on. "Gah! Why is it so freaking dark here?" She muttered to herself as she continued walking.

'I can't believe they dragged me along with them! They're already treating me like another member of the crew. Especially that Zoro guy.' She thought as she remembered what he said before they shoved her in the forest with them.

"_So that means you pull your weight in the group."_

'Arrogant bastard. Who does he think he is? Him and that Nami chick! Even if she helped me she has no right to boss me around and tell me if I'm "pullin my weight" or not.'

She jumped at the sudden rustle of some bushes and tripped over a branch, falling and scrapping her knee.

"GAHH! I HATE THE FUCKING DARK AND THIS STUPID FOREST!" She yelled at the world as she rolled around in the dirt and leaves.

"FOUND YOU AYUME!" Came an all too familiar call.

She groaned and looked behind her to find Luffy and Chopper running from another pack of angry bugs. He wasn't carrying the net, but that didn't surprise Ayume. Luffy whizzed past her and scooped her up by the arm ignoring her grunt of protest. He threw her behind him, and she would have fallen if not for grabbing on to his neck and latching herself on his back.

"What is wrong with you!" She yelled in his ear.

"What's wrong with this forest, is the question you should be asking." He replied with a cheeky grin that turned into fear as he ducked a swipe from the praying mantis.

They kept running from bug after bug, until Luffy stopped and leaned on a tree.

"I see you guys weren't able to catch on either." Nami's voice asked.

Ayume peeked out from behind Luffy's shoulder, to which she had buried her head in hopes that she wouldn't get killed. She looked around and saw all the others sitting or standing in a circle and no bugs in sight.

"Thank the lord." She breathed as she allowed herself to slip off of Luffy's back. "That was hell."

"Looks like it, you all have cuts all over you." Zoro put in nodding to her bleeding knee.

"Can't do it," Robin began. "We can hear, but never see one."

"We saw one," Luffy said as he sat down on a stump. "But the bugs were everywhere there was no time to catch it!"

"So many bugs." Ayume added, shaking a little. "I thought the plague had come down upon us."

Ussop stood up. "I can't take it! We have seven people but can't even catch one? You guys should try harder."

"Speak for yourself." Sanji muttered under his breath.

~CHO~

The crew all looked up to see one of the devil bird himself perched on a branch above their heads.

~CHO CHO~CHO~CHO CHO! ~ Ayume's head twitched at the knowledge that the thing was laughing at them.

"It said 'did you catch anything, dumbass?'" Chopper translated. Ayume gave him a quizzical look as Sanji and Ussop yelled at the birds' cockiness.

"You can understand it?"

"Yeah," He said humbly. "I am half-animal after all."

~Cho? ~ Two arms protruded from the bird's sides and Ayume stared in shock as they wrapped around it and brought it to the ground.

"As long as I can see it." Robin said.

'She must have eaten a devil fruit.' Ayume thought to herself as Nami picked the bird up and they all started walking out of the forest.

Ayume picked up the pace so she was standing next to Robin. "So you ate a Devil Fruit?"

"Yes I did, The Flower-Flower Fruit. It allows me to produce body parts on any solid surface."

"Really?" Ayume thought about it. "Wow, that actually sounds pretty powerful!"

Zoro scoffed. "Not really."

Out of the corner of her eye, Ayume saw Robin give him a small smile and Zoro fell to the ground with an oof. Robin started laughing as he looked to his feet and spotted a hand wrapped around his ankle.

"Haha! She got you Zoro!" Luffy laughed in his face.

Zoro just grumbled under his breath, got up, and stalked off clutching his sword, leaving the whole crew laughing at him.

0~0~0~0~0

"Hey Ayume, Bring me some of that wood!" Ussop ordered as Ayume stiffly got up. Muttering, she handed the wood to the sharpshooter. He thanked her with a nod, but she only gave him a glare that could freeze ice cubes.

As she walked of, Masira leaned over to Ussop. "What's up with her?"

"Beats me." He answered as he watched her walk to the tree stump and sit down.

"I'm tired!" She yelled from her seat and they both jumped, startled that she was able to hear them. "All night you had me run around trying to catch a damn bird," She glared at the south bird that was perched on a branch to the side. He let out a 'Cho!' as she continued complaining. "And now you're making me fix your damn ship!"

"Quit your whining." Nami said. "All we've made you do is help carry some wood and nails."

Ayume just hmphed and lay down on the tree stump. "It's not like I'll be coming with you on this trip of yours anyway."

"You're not coming with us!" Sanji cried. "Oh woe is me; I thought that this beauty would be joining our crew!"

"You're right, I'm not."

"But Ayume," Chopper began. "How will I be able to fix your back if you don't come with us?"

Ayume sat up and blinked. "You're right. Well damn it all." She mumbled. "Looks like I'll have to come with you then." She paused. "Do you think it'll be alright with your captain?"

They all looked at her and started laughing.

"What was so funny?"

"I think he's expecting you to come along." Ussop chuckled.

Nami smiled. "He did ask you to join the crew after all."

Ayume gave a small smile. "I guess that was a stupid question." She admitted.

"Yes, it was." Sanji agreed, giving her a flirty smirk.

She raised her eyebrows at him as he continued carrying wood to the ship.

By the time they were done, it was already morning and Luffy wasn't back yet.

"WHAT IS HE DOING RIGHT NOW? THAT IDIOT!" Nami shouted. "It's already morning and he's 46 minutes late. If this goes on, we won't be able to reach the knock up stream in time! It must be because he has to carry the heavy weight of the gold that he's late. With his brain he wouldn't know how much time it would take to come back!"

"Could he have been beaten in the town?" Chopper broke in.

"Yeah," Ayume said. "Maybe he lost to Bellamy."

Zoro scoffed. "There's no way he could lose to someone like Bellamy."

"If he lost the fight I wouldn't forgive him!" Nami muttered to herself, clenching her fist.

"HEEEEEEEY!"

Ayume and the crew all turned their heads to the sound of Luffy's voice.

"He's finally back!" Masira exclaimed.

"LUFFY HURRY! We're already behind schedule!" Nami yelled at him as he screamed for them to look at something in his hand.

"LOOK AT THIS! IT'S A HERCULESE!" He hollered proudly, raising the beetle up in the air.

Nami and Ussop's eyes bulged out as their jaws dropped to the ground. "WHAT WERE YOU DOING!" They both yelled.

Ayume hugged her stomach as she laughed. "He was late because he was looking for a beetle? That's rich!"

Luffy slowed down when he got to the shore. "WOW!" He said when he saw the Going Merry. Luffy's eyes sparkled as Ussop introduced the new "S.S. Foreword Aero-mode". "It looks like a turkey!" he exclaimed.

"I feel uneasy whenever I see that thing." Nami sweatdropped.

Zoro crossed his arms. "It's alright; it really does look more like a turkey than a chicken or a pigeon."

"I'm not worried about that stupid!"

Ayume went to stand next to Zoro. "You are stupid." Nami smiled at Ayume's agreement with her. "It's a chicken. I don't know how you and Luffy think it looks like a turkey."

Nami fell to the floor, tears of anguish at being the only one with brains. "Idiot's. I'm surrounded by idiots." She said to herself as Ayume and Zoro yelled at each other about what the ship looked like.

"Stop fighting you two and get on the ship." Chopper ordered as he and Sanji passed them. They were both carrying bandages in their arms. Ayume's eyes sparkled when she saw the first aid supplies.

"Look at all those bandages Chopper! Are you going to fix me now?" She asked her argument with Zoro forgotten.

"We can't now," Sanji said. "We have to get to Skypeia first."

Ayume slumped. "I guess you're right."

"Don't be sad Ayume-Chwaaaaaan~!" Sanji chortled as his eyes turned into hearts. "When we get to Skypeia, Chopper will fix you up and you'll be all better!"

"We won't get to Skypeia if we keep dawdling like this!" Nami yelled from the ship. "Let's get on board! You to Luffy, hurry up!" She added, with extra volume.

Ayume started running towards the ship when Criket started yelling. "APE-YAMA UNITED FORCES!" He screamed into the sky as both the monkey brother's crew answered him with a yell. "DON'T MESS THIS UP! NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, GIVE IT YOUR ALL FOR THESE GUYS!"

Ayume stood there, staring at the old man who had tears down his cheeks. She felt a sense of wonder. These people had only known each other for a day, yet they were willing to risk it all. With a smile, she jumped on the ship next to Luffy.

"Everyone set sail!" Nami ordered.

"Alright!"

"HAI MISS NAMI!"

Luffy turned when Criket called his name. "This is where we part." He reminded the strawhat captain. "There is one thing, one thing absolutely certain… it is that for the "golden city" and "sky island", there has never been anyone who could prove that they do not exist! Other's might laugh at us, but that doesn't matter. THIS IS…. ROMANTIC!" He finished, throwing his arms out in the air.

"It's romantic?" Luffy asked.

"Yup! And for the gold, thanks. Don't crash you guys!" He said with a wave.

As they all yelled their thanks and goodbyes, the three pirate ships made their way into the ocean.

Masira and Shojo situated both their ships on the sides of the Going Merry.

"Remember, it is currently 7:00 AM! We will reach destination at around 11:00 AM." Shojo informed. "Like Boss said, 'knock up stream' appears in different places every time, so we must get their early and search for its exact position. Since we set said later then our original plan-" Shojo stopped talking when he noticed Luffy. "Hey! Are you even listening?"

Ayume watched as Luffy turned the birds head to the west and let go. The bird's head bounced back to pointing south and Luffy laughed.

"Look he turned south again!"

"Let me try!" Ayume demanded as she walked over to the south bird. She picked it up by its feet and turned its whole body upside down. Then, when it blinked she suddenly turned it north. Its head immediately turned south again and Ayume laughed along with Ussop, Luffy, and Chopper.

"OW!" She yelped as she let go of the bird. "It bit me!"

Zoro snorted. "Probably because you were playing with it, stupid."

Ayume glared at the swordsman, about to retort when a yell from Shojo's ship distracted her.

"Hey you, don't piss off our great captain!"

Shojo waved his hand at his crew member. "Forget it- let them goof around. The way they ignore their surroundings, it makes one so edgy!"

"Oh well, you can't help it with this kind of thing." Luffy said. "Just go forward and relax!"

"Such words from someone who caused the delay in the first place?" Sanji spoke.

"But," Masira began. "He's right. Stressing for hours on this thing is pointless."

"Alright, I see. Bastards... relax and full speed ahead!" Shojo ordered his crew.

"The weather's so nice!" Ussop exclaimed as he leaned on the railing.

Ayume noticed how all the other members in the crew suddenly seemed to lose the tension they all had.

"Ayume." She turned her head to find herself face to face with Luffy. "Are you going to join our crew yet?"

She shoved his face away from her. "I already told you I'm not joining your crew!"

He pouted. "Awe, but why not? I mean, you're already coming on adventures with us! You might as well just join us already!"

"The only reason I'm coming is because Chopper promised me that he would get this seastone out of my back. After he does that, I'll be going on my way."

"And where would that be?"

Ayume paused. She really had no idea where she would go.

Luffy noticed her hesitation and grinned. "See? You have nothing else to do and nowhere to go! So why don't you just join our crew!" Luffy got a pouty look on his face. "Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

"Pretty, pretty, pretty please?"

"No!" Ayume said looking to the captain as he moved closer to her. He was now sitting so close she could hear him breath.

"Pretty please?" He asked again, his eyes round.

"No!" She hissed as she tried pushing him away.

"I don't accept it!" He used his Gomu-Gomu powers to wrap his arms around her 20 times. She let out a cry of shock and they both fell to the floor, a ball of rubbery limbs and a few normal ones in the middle.

"Please?" He asked one more time.

"Gah! What is wrong with you? I told you no!" She hissed at him as she struggled to get free.

"And your answers not accepted."

"Let me go!"

"Not unless you join my crew!"

Ayume sighed in defeat. "Fine…"

Luffy relaxed his hold on her. "Really?" He said hopefully.

"NOPE!" She yelled as she used her strength to get her free of his grasp.

"Oi, Luffy just leave her alone. If she joins the crew she joins the crew, if not than oh well, that's her choice." Zoro said from his napping spot against the mast. Ayume glanced at him with his hands behind his head and his eyes closed. She sweatdropped.

'How could he know what's going on if he was sleeping?'

"But Zoro," Luffy whined. "She would be a great addition to the crew!"

"How would she be a great addition? Can she even fight or will she be another Nami and not be able to defend herself?"

"Hey!" Ayume bristled. "I can fight! Better than your sorry ass can!"

"You have no clue about my fighting skills!" Zoro growled.

"And you have no clue about mine!"

"Cause you probably have none!"

"You wanna find out, moss brain!" She snapped back at him, their noses only inches apart. Electricity sparked through their angry gazes.

"No." He sat back down beside the mast. "I have no interest in fighting a weak opponent. It wouldn't be fair to you." He added with a sly snicker in Ayume's direction.

She lunged for him, but Ussop and Chopper held her back. Luffy was laughing in the background. "Gah! You arrogant bastard! Just you wait, when I get this rock out my back you're in for a wide awakening!"

"He didn't mean it!" Chopper said.

"Yeah," Ussop agreed. "He's just messing with you!" he let out a sigh of relief as Ayume started to calm down.

"I was being serious." Zoro stated as Ayume let out a shriek and lunged at him again.

After a few more minutes of screaming, Ayume walked away towards Nami.

"Nami," The red head turned to Ayume's direction. "Do you have a bed I can sleep in, I'm really exhausted."

"Sure thing." Nami answered. "If you want you can take a shower to. I don't know how long it will be before we get to Skypeia." She said, as she led Ayume to her room. "You can sleep in my bed, the showers across the hall."

"Thanks Nami."

"No problem." She assured as she shut the door, leaving Ayume standing in her room.

"Might as well take a shower first." She said as she rubbed her head. Ayume looked around the room and spotted a towel. She grabbed it and headed to the shower.

When she got there, she turned the water to hot and waited it to set.

The room was small, enough to fit a shower stall and a small tub. There was a toilet in the corner next to a long sink and a giant mirror. Ayume positioned herself in front of it and ran her hand through her hair.

She had pale skin, but that was due to her three months with the marines. Normally she would have a light tan. Her hair was down past her shoulders and a little rustled up. She looked at the dark circles under her pitch black eyes.

'I really do need some sleep'

After her shower, she put Nami's borrowed clothes back on and plopped down in Nami's bed, cuddling her pillow. It's been a while since she could actually relax. She wondered why she felt so at ease on this ship. Maybe it was the crew or the knowledge that she would soon be able to protect herself again. No, that's not it. Normally she wouldn't let her guard down until she got her devil fruit powers back. As she fell asleep, she thought about why she felt so free here.

After a while the ship lurched to the side, and Ayume was awaken as she was thrown off the bed.

"The hell?" she muttered as she rubbed the back of her head where she bumped Nami's bookshelf. As she tried to stand up, the ship jolted again and she flew to the other side out the door. Ayume landed against the wall.

"Enough of this!" She crawled on her hands and knees until she reached the deck. As she emerged and wobbled out she froze at the sight of a giant sea king being swallowed by a whirlpool. The sky was dark and the wind whipped at her damp hair.

She turned around at the sound of Ussop's screaming, Nami joined him and Ayume just stood there, wondering what the hell was going on.

"Guys," They all stopped their bickering and looked to her. "Why are we in a giant toilet?"

"This is how we're going to get to Skypeia!" Luffy exclaimed. "If we go to the center of the whirlpool, the water will shoot out and we'll be up in those clouds!"

Ayume looked up at the darkening storm clouds. "Will their really be an island up their?" She asked.

"Their better be one!" Ussop wailed. "Or we would have been risking our lives for nothing!"

Ayume jumped as Zoro suddenly stood up next to her. "Hey, while you were doing your fruitless complaining-" He was cut short by Ayume's interruption and gave her an annoyed look.

"We're at the center of the whirlpool!" She screamed as they fell into the water.

Ayume braced herself to get swallowed into the black ocean. She opened her eyes when she realized she wasn't being swallowed by water.

"It's so still." She murmured a thoughtful expression on her face as the rest of the crew started to freak out. She could feel Zoro looking at her until Nami started to speak.

"It's started! The whirlpool has only disappeared into the seabed!"

"WAIT!"

Everyone looked out to the sea.

Luffy straightened up. "Hey Zoro."

"Yeah?"

"That's-" He began, but was interrupted.

Ayume squinted her eyes, trying to make out the figures on the raft.

'God my eyesight is terrible.' She thought.

"TSHAHAHAHAHAHA! I've finally caught you straw hat kiddo Luffy!"

Ayume's eyes widened as she recognized the man's voice. "That's the pie guy!"

"WE ARE HERE TO TAKE YOU HEAD, WHICH IS WORTH 100 MILLION! SURRENDER TO US NOW!"

Ayume looked at Luffy in awe. '100 million? No way, his bounty's worth more than mine!' She looked at the confused pirate in front of her.

"100 million? What are you talking about?" He called out to them.

"So you didn't know after all. There's a bounty worth 100 million beri on your head! Also the pirate hunter Zoro, you have 60 million!"

Ussop brought out his binocular and looked at the tiny raft. "It's true! They have new bounties! Zoro, you're a wanted pirate now!"

"Wow, Luffy!" Ayume exclaimed. "I didn't know you were worth 100 million!" She pat him on the back. "Nice job!"

"That couldn't be Ayume could it?" Ayume looked up when the black haired pirate yelled her name. "I didn't know you were a part of this crew, in fact I didn't know who you were at all." He added with a chuckle. "Why didn't you tell me I was right?"

"Right about what?" Luffy asked him.

He raised his eyebrows. "Oh? You didn't know that G-"

"MIND YOUR OWN BUISNESS OLD MAN!" Ayume suddenly screamed at him, making him stop talking.

He started laughing. "I see how it is. Very well little spirit, I won't tell them your secr-"

"I SAID SHUTUP!"

"What secret?" Zoro asked, giving her a suspicious look.

"I have no secret." She said indignantly.

He would have pestered her more but forgot when the ship was raised in the air.

"Wha- AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ayume screamed when they were catapulted into the air, the Going Merry turned vertical. Faster than lighting she was flying backwards, into the ocean behind them. A warm hand grabbed her and shoved her back to the ship.

"Oi, didn't you hear Sanji say grab onto something?" Zoro said as he stood her next to him.

"Hehe, I guess not." She said sheepishly rubbing the back of her head. He grunted and rolled his eyes, taking his hand from her arm. She rubbed the spot where he grabbed her, noticing the cold air come into contact with the warm touch.

"Alright!" Luffy screamed in joy. "If we keep sailing like thins we can get to the sky! Forward S.S. Forward!"

"Wait a sec. it's not as easy as you think" Sanji warned.

"Why?" Ussop demanded.

"The ship is leaving the stream! If this goes on much longer we'll get bounced off!"

"Even if you say so, but what do we do! It's hard enough to just hold onto the ship!" Nami asked.

Chopper's jaw dropped. "YAAAAA! WHAT'S THAT?" He interrupted pointing up above them.

"SEA KING!"

"It's the one that got sucked into the water!"

Ayume leaned over the ship and watched as it fell.

"Don't do that or you'll fall over again." Zoro ordered, suddenly standing behind her. She jumped at his sudden appearance and started to lean over, but caught herself. "See what I mean?"

"That was your fault! You startled me!" She yelled at him with shark teeth.

After a few more yells and orders from Nami to set the sail, the Going Merry was flying on the current up into the clouds.

'Wow, they really did it.' Ayume thought, looking around at the happy crew of pirates. 'They really found a way to an island in the sky.'

* * *

><p>BAM! 7,934 words baby! Whew, I was trying to get to the Skypeia arc all in one chapter, so if this seems rushed then sorry. I'm probably going to rush the whole Skypeia arc in some parts cause as you can tell, I hate writing the scenes that are actually in the story... It's boring and tedious, but neccassary in some places.<p>

Anyways, please review if your going to take the time to add me on your watch list! -_- I'm serious, it doesn't really take that long... I don't care if it says Banana's as long as you show that you care about my pride and self esteem as a writer.


	4. Chapter Three

Took me 5 days to write this. In hindsight that's really fast for a chapter this big. And I've also changed Ayume's bounty, Instead of 80 it's 69. 80 just seemed... to big for her so I gave her a more humble number, but don't worry, it'll go up as the story goes on!

Eventual ZoroxOC story

Disclaimer: *Insert witty sentence about how I don't own One Piece here*

* * *

><p>'<em>Wow, they really did it.' Ayume thought, looking around at the happy crew of pirates. 'They really found a way to an island in the sky.'<em>

The ship continued to sail up into the clouds above. The wind whipped at Ayume's hair and she knew that she would have a nasty bed head later on. Sanji screamed that they were about to hit the clouds, so they better hold on to something or they would fall off.

Ayume didn't hear him, like before, and she just stood there, waiting to enter the clouds. As they came into contact, she realized that it was just like the ocean, meaning that she was a dead weight.

'I can't move!' She thought as she started to slip away. She then felt herself being pulled to the side. Someone was gripping the rail on both sides of her, so she wasn't able to get away. 'It's Zoro.' She wasn't able to turn her head to make sure, but she guessed by the warm body she was pressed against, it was too broad to be Sanji's and Luffy would be a dead weight in the water as well. The ship kept getting faster until it flourished from the clouds and landed on the White Sea.

The strawhat pirates lay on the deck, coughing and trying to catch their breaths.

Zoro raised his head from the floor. "What just happened? Is everyone alright?"

Luffy stood straight up. "Hey! "Hey look you guys! Outside the ship!"

They finally took a look at their surroundings, which was a snowy world of perfectly white clouds.

"What!" Nami gripped the rail. "How are we sailing on a cloud?"

"Hey Zoro," Zoro raised his head to Robin. "Something seems wrong with your friend." She said with a sly smile.

"Huh?" He looked down and saw a passed out Ayume beneath him, her eyes little swirls. "AHHH!" He started shaking her. "Wake up you barnacle head! How could you just pass out!"

"She must be exhausted." Robin chuckled. "With all the seastone in her back, the trip into this cloudy ocean might have been all that's he could handle." Zoro gave her a skeptical look and she only continued. "After she takes a real nap, I'm sure she'll wake up and continue to argue with you. I didn't know you were so worried about her."

He narrowed his eyes, looking down at the midnight haired girl under his arm. "I'm not, but she is a crew member."

"Didn't she say she wasn't?"

He stood up. "Knowing Luffy she will be soon, so we might as well start to treat her like one."

0~0~0~0~0

Ayume coughed up some cloud water. She groaned when she was done, and tried to sit up, but a hoof pushed her down.

"I wouldn't get up just yet, you still need to get used to the oxygen amount up here." Chopper advised.

"Did we make it? Are we at Skypeia?"

"Well we made it, but we havn't-" Chopper was cut off when the ship lurched violently to the side.

"YOU IDIOT ZORO I TOLD YOU TO GO LEFT! NOT RIGHT!" Nami screamed.

"Maybe you should have told me before we needed to turn!"

Ayume sweatdropped. "I see we still need to sail their right?"

Chopper nodded, smiling. Ayume got up, ignoring the protests of the reindeer.

"I feel fine Chopper. I think I'm used to the thin air already!" Ayume stood up and swayed forward. She stopped walking and steadied herself, making sure she wasn't dizzy to continue. "See Chopper? All better!" She assured him, leaning against the railing.

"Wow, it's so pretty up here! Like a sea of white marshmallows or something."

Nami was instructing the crew to weave their way through the maze of clouds. They bumped into wall after wall, but eventually made their way to their destination, which Ayume could see what a huge gate with the words "Heaven's Gate" carved on the top. It was made of gold and looked like something out of a storybook.

Ussop, already sweating and blue, started shaking. "Bad omen, it's like we're going to die."

"Yeah, it's totally unexpected. Maybe we're already dead already?" Zoro snickered, a sly look towards the shaking coward.

Sanji thoughtfully held his chin. "Really? If so than this strange world can be explained…."

"WAHHHH! So that means we're dead already?" Chopper yelled, his eyes bulging out.

Luffy just laughed. "Heaven! So funny! We can get there through here!" he pointed to the golden gate.

As they sailed closer, a little figure emerged from an open door inside the gate.

"Look! Someone's coming out!"

Ayume, even with her bad eyesight, could see it was an old woman. She snapped a picture at the pirates and asked a question on if they were here to sightsee, or here to fight.

"Why would we be here to fight?" Ayume asked her.

The lady snapped a picture of Ayume and continued talking as if she didn't hear her.

"Actually, it doesn't matter why you're here. You must pay an entrance fee of 1 billion extols per person. That is the law."

Luffy gasped. "An angel! So that's how angels look… like dried up fruit candies."

Ayume bonked him on the head. "Angels don't look like that stupid." She said as the lady said that they could still go up.

The ship started to shake and two claws grabbed the side of it.

Ayume jumped. "What the hell is that!"

"That's white sea's special 'Speedy Shrimp'." The old lady informed.

"GUAAA! IT'S TAKING US UP THE WATERFALL!" Ayume yelled along with the others.

"How is this possible?" Nami asked no one in particular. "The cloud is just like a river!"

Ayume slowly released her hold on the mast and allowed herself to walk to the front of the ship. "Look!" She pointed up. "There's the exit!"

"There's something written on the sign!" Sanji yelled. "Godland….SKYPEIA!" He read as they got closer.

"It's not an exit." Nami yelled over the chaos. "It's an entrance!"

"It's an island!" Luffy screamed as the shrimp threw them over the edge into the white-white sea. "IT'S SKY ISLAND, YEAH!"

Ayume's face broke out in a giant grin as she leaned forward. "We did it! We found Sky Island!"

They sailed closer and docked the ship a little ways off from the beach. Ayume stood by the rail, looking t the land in awe. She could hardly believe that they had found a way to Skypeia.

"Hey Ayume?" She looked over at Nami. "Do you want a change of clothes? Like a bathing suit top?"

"N-no, I'm good. I'll just wear your t-shirt." She said hastily.

Nami gave her a confused look at Ayume's sudden nervousness, but shook it off and shrugged. "Ok, that's fine."

Ayume watched as Nami went below deck to change and sighed. She really did want to wear a bathing suit, but couldn't. 'If they found out about my tattoo, they would know at least half of who I really am.' She scowled. 'And knowing their stupid captain, he would try to butt into my business.'

Ayume gripped her left shoulder, where the tattoo was located at. She would never forget the day she got it.

_A 13 year old Ayume screamed in pain as a board hit her skull. She cowered on the floor, trying to block the oncoming strikes from the furious scientist. She screamed again when the board hit the newly tattooed spot on her shoulder. The bandages fell off, revealing a medium sized pentagon in black ink. The skin was red and puffy, still healing from yesterday. _

_The man kicked her against the wall. "You little bitch! You can spend the rest of your life working in the mines if you don't want to help us find a cure!" He motioned for two more men. They picked her up and dragged her deeper into the cave. The deeper they went, the more dirty it became. The upper levels were lit with electricity, but down below they only used torches, and Ayume had a hard time seeing her surroundings. _

_They finally arrived at a wooden door. One of the men holding her opened it up to reveal a giant cave. The light that came in through the opened door allowed Ayume to see the inside. It was circular and had cage after cage on top of each other with about a foot in between them, held apart by wooden bars. She could see doors interlocking each one, connecting them. _

_She was thrown into a cell in the middle, the door locking behind her. _

"_You shouldn't have rebelled, girly." One of the men snickered. "You had one of the more luxurious jobs in this place." He spit at her feet. _

_The other one snorted. "Ha-ha! Yeah, now you can mine the seastone for us along with the other resistors until you know how to act in front of your superiors." The men left closing the door, leaving the room in a different kind of darkness and discussing how much money fixing the machine she damaged would cost. _

_Ayume sat up and clutched her arm. She gritted her teeth, trying not to cry. She was bleeding, that much she knew, but she didn't' know where exactly and how heavy. _

"_Are you alright?" A timid voice asked. _

_As Ayume's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could make out four figures near the back of the cell. Two boys and two girls. One of the girls was slowly walking towards her, her palms up to show she wouldn't harm her. _

_When she reached Ayume, she grabbed her arm and used something to wipe up the blood from her shoulder. "Let me get you all fixed up ok?"_

_Ayume just blindly nodded her head as she was led to the back of the cell. The girl whispered something to a kid in the neighboring cell and he handed her what looked like a dampened cloth rag. She started to clean Ayume's cuts as she introduced herself. _

_"My name is Brandi, the older boy is Anthony. The other two, who look to be about your age, are Ava and Nate."_

_"Why are you guys in here?" Ayume winced when Brandi started wrapping up her shoulder with ripped up pieces of her blanket. _

_"Same thing you're in here for, resisting the Holy Hearts." _

_"The Holy Hearts?"_

_Anthony laughed. "She got herself thrown in here without even knowing who she was opposing!" _

_As Brandi explained who the Holy Hearts were Ava and Nate had crawled up to sit with the group. Ayume learned what each of them did to get thrown into the cell as well as why they rebelled everyday against the evil group of people. _

_"I knew what they were doing to the kids was wrong, that's why I tried to destroy one of their machines." She explained._

_"And that's the kind of spirit we need in our rebellion!" Nate exclaimed. "See this tattoo?" He asked, showing her his shoulder. He had the same pentagon as Ayume, but there was something in the middle. It was a dove with the words* fighting spirit under it. The doves wings spread outside the pentagon, the words stayed inside, curving upwards around the inner edge. "It's a symbol of our resistance! Our reason to fight the evil that has captured so many kids and put them through hell will never fade as long as we all are bounded by this symbol."_

_The rest of the four cell mates had moved so Ayume could see their tattoos, which were all the same. _

_"Almost one third of the kids the Holy Hearts Society has stolen have been thrown into the lower dungeons. They all have this tattoo, so they can never forget why they keep fighting." Anthony explained. _

_Ayume looked around at the rest of the cells, they were all filled with at least 10 kids or more and they were all looking towards her cell, the one in the middle. Every kid had on a grin of some sort; she noticed that some of them had rolled up their sleeves so she could see their tattoo of the dove. _

_"We fight for those that can't." One said. _

_"We rebel against the HHS!"_

_"We protect the ones that are alone!"_

_"We help the ones that are helpless!"_

_All the kids erupted in cheers and screams. Ayume could only stare in awe and fascination at the large group of prisoners. Even though they had nothing, even though they were made in into slaves, they still had it all to lose. She felt moved by the emotion pouring into the cave. _

_"As you can see," Anthony began. "We fight for our freedom and the rest that are above us." He said pointing to the ceiling. _

_"The others are too scared to fight," Ava spoke for the first time. "So we do it for them."_

_"Are you in?" Anthony asked. _

_Ayume nodded, feeling the thrill of all the other rebels. She joined in the laughter and for the first time since she was stolen from her family, she felt at home with her new friends. _

"Come on Zoro!" Ayume called as she jumped of the ship into the cloud water. "Last one there's a sourpuss!"

Zoro rolled his eyes and started taking off his boots. As he walked towards the beach he took in his crew and the extra girl arguing with Luffy about a sitting spot on the tree he was on. She pushed him off with a laugh and he used his devil fruit powers to grab the leaning palm and fling her back into the cluster of bushes not far off.

Ayume got back up and climbed on the tree, just as Luffy grabbed one of the teal colored fruits. "OH! What's this strange fruit?"He bit into it and shattered his teeth. Ayume grabbed one and started pounding it with her fists.

"Wow this thing is hard!" She looked over at the green-haired swordsman who just stepped foot on the beach. Without a second thought, she threw the fruit over to him and it bonked him on the head.

"OW! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!" He took a look around the island and saw Luffy and Ayume laughing. Luffy was still holding his fruit and Zoro stalked towards him muttering a stream of profanities.

"Wow! That thing is as hard as a rock!" Ayume giggled as Luffy tried to defend himself against the annoyed marimo.

"You annoying little shit!"  
>"It wasn't me! It was Ayume!"<p>

Everyone stopped what they were doing when beautiful music filled the air. Zoro looked down and commented on the little white fox that was situated near the shore.

"Hey! Someone's over there!" Sanji pointed to a hill in the clouds.

"Is it another raider?"

"Whistle! Where's the whistle?"

"Wait that's not it... That's an angel!" Sanji fawned over the girl standing on the cloud. She was holding a harp and had two antennas from her head and two wings in her back.

"Heso!" She greeted. "Are you guys from the blue seas?" She asked, walking over to meet them.

Luffy had crawled down from the tree and was carrying two teal fruits. "We flew up here from the bottom, do you live here?"

"Yes I live here." She picked up the white fox. "This is the Angel Beach of Skypeia." She noticed Luffy's hands and giggled. "That's gaunasa, do you want to drink it?" Luffy nodded and she carved a hole on the top and stuck a straw through it. "Enjoy! I'm Conis!" She introduced herself to the others.

"YUMMMMMMMYY! Tastes so great!"

"What? Is it that good?" Ussop demanded.

Ayume rushed over and took the fruit from Luffy, examining it before sucking the juice from the straw.

"Hey!" He yelled taking it back, but it was too late, she had already drunk the rest.

"That was yummy!" She exclaimed as Luffy started to pout.

"Something's coming from the sea." Zoro observed calmly.

Ayume and Luffy looked up from their fight over the last gaunasa.

"It's a slime!" Luffy yelled, letting go of the fruit. Ayume fell backwards with a cry of indignation.

"No, it's my dad."

"Conis, my daughter! Heso!" The man in the sea yelled.

"Heso father!" She returned his wave.

"What is her riding on?" Robin asked.

"Ah, you mean the waver?"

The man kept riding until he ran into a tree. He got up and rubbed his head, asking if everyone was alright.

Zoro got a tick mark on his head. "YOU SHOULD BE ASKING YOURSELF THAT FIRST!"

After Conis's dad, Pagaya, explains what waver's were, he invited them to his home.

Ayume hummed as she climbed the cloudy stairs up to the village of Skypeia. "How many stairs are there, old man?" She whined as she skipped farther up them. Í'm getting itred of walking."

"Not much more to go, when we pass this factory we'll be close to my house." He said with a reassuring smile. "It's the 'cloud cutting factory'. The factory cuts the cloud into blocks for easier application in construction." He explained.

"Clouds can be cut into block?"

Ayume stopped and grabbed her head. "Ah, this place is so weird!"

"Oi! Don't dawdle." Zoro said as he pushed her up the stairs.

"Don't push me!" Ayume snapped at him.

"I wouldn't have to if you didn't stop walking!" He stared at her as she tried to push him down the stairs.

"Gah! Why is it so hard to push you!" She half yelled. He just sighed and shoved her to the side, where Luffy, Ussop, and Chopper were bouncing on the cloud. She started laughing and bouncing with them, like he knew she would. He shook his head at her antics and continued walking to the town, talking with Pagaya on the way.

They entered Conis's house and she showed them to the living room. Ayume plopped down on the couch.

"Ohhh this house is nice! So comfy and nice!"

"You already said it was nice…" Ussop muttered.

She glared at him. "What was that long-nose?"

He turned blue and put his hands up in submission. "NOTHING!"

"So what are dials?" Robin asked, sitting across from Ayume, forcing Zoro to sit next to the lounging girl. He moved her feet from the couch so he could sit down.

"Here," Conis gave Luffy a purple one. "Talk into this."

Luffy grabbed it and said, "Ussop is stupid."

"Now press the tip of the shell." He did and the dial repeated every word that he said, even Ussop's whining.

"That shell is a dial?" Zoro asked, intrigued.

"Yes, that's the tone dial. It used to record music mainly."

"But there's no bottom at the sea, how do these things survive?"

"We get them from the edge of the beach."

"If this is what a dial is, I don't understand how it can power the waver." Robin put in.

Conis smiled and pulled out a larger shell. "That's not the one that powers wavers. This is the wind dial. It releases however much wind you put in it."

"Wow! That's so cool!" Ayume gasped. "Do you have any more types of shells?"

Conis laughed. "Yes we do lots more in fact. Push the top of the one on the table." Ayume did and it lit up. "That's called the lamp dial; it's used to store light. Other types of dials include the heat storing hot dial, the smell storing scent dial, image recording voice dial, and so many others!"

"GUAAAA!"

Ayume turned her head to the kitchen.

"Sanji sounds happy." Luffy commented.

"He probably fell in love with sky island food."Ussop said.

"Hey Zoro!" Ayume called, noticing the man sitting next to her had fallen asleep. "You're missing out on all this cool knowledge!" She was about to poke him on the face when Sanji burst in the door, yelling that dinner has been served.

Zoro immediately woke up and started scarfing down the food. Ayume grabbed a plate and did the same, but with more manners.

Sanji walked to the deck and looked out into the sea. "Where did Miss Nami go?" he asked out loud.

"She's riding the waver!" Ayume said, with a mouthful of food.

"Swallow your food before you talk!" Ussop shark yelled.

"I don't see her."

Zoro looked up from his plate. "Then she's just gone farther out, don't worry about her."

Conis started to seat. "F-father, will it be alright?"

"Oh, my daughter, I have a bad feeling about thins too…" he trailed off.

"Bad feeling about what?" Luffy asked.

"There is one place on Skypeia where no one should ever enter. It's very close and with a waver on can get there very fast. It's called the upper yard, the place where God lives."

"God is there? In the place that no one should ever enter?" Luffy asked with a serious face.

"Yes! It's god land and is ruled by the almighty Enel!" Conis explained.

Ussop grabbed Luffy by the shirt as he was smiling like an idiot. "DID YOU HEAR THAT LUFFY? 'No one should ever enter' means that you can't go in!"

"Yeah? So no one should go in no matter what?" He said again, eating a piece of bread. "But even though it's forbidden God will forgive us right?"

"But breaking the rule set by God is disrespecting him!" Conis argued.

"Really? Oh well, it doesn't matter." Luffy paused to finish the food he had in his hands. "Alright, let's go find Nami!"

Conis started to freak out. "Actually there's no proof that she really went there, so there's no need to be so hasty. It would be bad if we anger God Enel!"

"Ah, by the way," began Pagaya, "You said that you have a broken waver?" Luffy nodded. "I wouldn't mind taking a look at it for you."

"Really?" Luffy asked. "Thanks!"

"Quick you dolts!" Sanji yelled, bonking Luffy and Ussop on the head. "We need to go and rescue Nami!" He ran out of the house, not forgetting to wake Zoro up to. "You too moss head!"

Ayume finished eating the food on her plate before walking leisurely down the white stairs. While she was on the last stretch of steps, someone called from behind her to stop walking. She turned around, and not seeing anyone, continued on her way.

"Hey! We, the White Burets, have ordered you to stop walking!"

Ayume turned back around, a little annoyed. Standing a little ways above her on the stairs was a man wearing a purple shirt, a cape, and funny looking cloud pants. Ayume sweatdropped as she took in the soldiers behind him, all army crawling towards the beach.

"Are you from the blue sea too?" He asked her.

She just nodded. He ordered her to come along with him to angel beach to meet with her crew. She complied silently laughing at the man's pants.

When they reached the beach, the burets fawned out halfway behind their captain.

The Skypeians greeted each other with "Heso!" and the white buret captain turned to the strawhat pirates. "YOU ARE THOSE CITIZENS OF THE BLUE SEA THAT ILLEGALY ENTERED SKYPEIA!"

Conis and Pagaya's eyes widened in shock, "Illegal trespassers?"

"No use trying to deny it! The gate keeper took all of your pictures and told us the truth!"

"Hey now," Ayume stood in front of the man. "She said that we could enter even if we didn't pay the fine!"

"Yeah!" Ussop agreed with me from the ship. "She said that we didn't have to pay!"

"Do not panic, in god's judgment this is only an eleven class crime. After the punishment you will become regular tourists."

"So what's the punishment?" Sanji asked.

"Simple. You pay ten times the entrance fee. Meaning that each person is 10 billion, making it 80 billion for 8 people." He explained.

"GAH! How much is that in beri?"

The man pondered the question. "Well 10,000 extol is 1 beri here."

"So that would mean 8 million beri." Robin explained to the crew.

Sanji's eyes popped out. "That's way too much!"

"If you paid in the beginning that would have been only 800,000 beri." The man pointed out.

"That's still too much!" Sanji shark yelled. "Oh just forget them and lets go get Nami!"

"If you continue to deny us, your criminal status will worsen!" The buret captain yelled. He took a notice of the broken waver with Pagaya. "If this has been stolen from sky island, then that would be a class 9 crime!"

Ayume heard Sanji yell toward the sea, he was screaming Nami's name. "Luffy, Nami's back and she's fine." She said nodding towards the sea.

"Huh?" Luffy turned and noticed the red head riding the waver. "Oh, yeah." He sulked. "I hope she crashes!"

Ayume hit him on the head. "Don't say that! Wait…. She's not stopping."

Nami's waver ran right up the beach and hit the buret captain on the head. She seemed to realize what she did for she got off and buried her face in one hand. "It's over now, because of their ridiculously high fine, I lost it!" she walked the waver to Pagaya. "Thank you for letting me use it! I had fun!" Then turning quickly she grabbed Luffy's hand and ran towards the ship. "Now let's run Luffy!"

"Hey!" Ayume yelled, following them. "Don't forget about me!"

"There is no escape! Not only were you impolite to us, but you committed a class 5 crime!" The captain yelled while slowly standing up. "I SENTENCE YOU TO THE DRIFTING CLOUD!"

"What's that?" Luffy asked Conis.

"It's a death penalty! They put you on an island cloud and let you drift out into the sea!" She explained, fear in her eyes.

"GET THEM!"

"Um guys?" Ayume said as she inched closer to Luffy. "I think they want to shoot at us.

The white burets raised their bow and arrows and fired them into the sky. White clouds followed the arrow and stayed in the sky.

Luffy pushed Ayume and Nami back towards the ship. "Nami, Ayume! Get out of my way!"

"Come one Ayume!" Nami dragged her to the ship, but Ayume stayed at the edge of the beach, not going into the water. She watched in fascination as Luffy quickly took out the white burets, smiling at the strawhat captain.

Zoro sheathed his sword and asked, "Now that I think of it, how much money do we have?"

"50,000 beri left!" Nami called form the ship.

He blinked. "50 K? Only that much?"

Ayume giggled. "Wow you guys are poor!"

"I bet you've never even seen that much beri!"

Ayume snickered toward Zoro. "You'd be surprised at how much I have saved, moss brain."

"What was that!"

"Did you not hear me marimo?"

"Shut yer trap!"

"You fools." They all turned their head towards the bushes and trees at the sound of a voice. "You would have been fine if you had done what I said, now your class two criminals! No matter how hard you scream…. THE PRIEST OF UPPER YARD WILL PERSONALLY JUDGE YOU!" He then crawled away back into the city.

"I can't believe that lady tricked us!" Nami explained in disbelief. "You can still go up, but once we did it became illegal trespassing? This is fraud!"

"It wouldn't matter if she said we can't pass," Ussop crossed his arms. "We would have used force if that happened."

"Well, things have gotten complicated. Now that your 2nd class criminals, we can't help you." Pagaya said from ten feet away.

Ayume sweatdropped as Nami yelled at them for being so far away.

"It's ok!" Luffy said, smiling. "It's not like we're not used to being chased by the authorities."

"You guys havn't even been here for 5 hours and you've already done something to piss off the authorities." Ayume crossed her arms and shook her head. "Not bad timing, but I could have done better."

"What are you talking about?" Ussop yelled at her.

"Yeah, how could a little girl like you have done better?" Zoro asked.

"I am not a little girl!"

"You're smaller than me, younger than me, and a female; that makes you a little girl."

"I bet I'm older than you!"

"Oh, really?" He sized her up. "Let me guess… 17? I got you beat by two years."

"Hmph," She turned her back on him. "With your maturity I took you for a 10 year old."

"WHAT!" He shark yelled.

Ayume turned around and saw a steaming Zoro loom over her. She yelped and was about to run back to the ship, when Nami grabbed her shirt collar. "Stop it you two. Sanji, Luffy, and Ussop are going to get some food for our trip back. I suggest you go with them. It's probably best to keep you and Mr. Hot Head separated for now." She said, with an amused nod towards Zoro.

"Ok Nami!" Ayume smiled. She ran to the stairs and joined Luffy sticking her tongue out at the swordsman who had turned to Nami and yelled, "But she started it!"

0~0~0~0~0

Ayume sat on the railing, playing with one of Pagaya's heat dials. She laughed as she threw a flame at one of the birds in the sky. It cried and fell to the ground, only to spread its wings and fly into the air again, making sure to keep distance from the trigger happy pyro.

"I love this dial the most! Can I keep it Conis?" Ayume asked the blonde, who was taking the lunch box from the love-struck Sanji.

"Sure, if you want." She said, but Ussop stood up and snatched the red dial out of her hands.

"Hey! I was playing with that!" Ayume whined.

"That's exactly why you're not keeping it!" He yelled, handing it back to Conis. "Do us a favor and keep this away from her."

Conis only smiled in amusement as Ayume started hitting Ussop for taking her "fire toy". He turned around, about to lecture her about the importance of fire safety when he saw the Going Merry.

"Guys, something's wrong with the ship!" He yelled to the crew.

"What are you talking about Ussop?" Sanji asked from his spot on the couch.

"The ship's sailing away!" he exclaimed and Sanji and Luffy both got out and looked to where Ussop was pointing.

"No, it's not sailing, something's taking it away!" Sanji said, grabbing Ussop's binoculars. "And Nami! Why did she put a t-shirt on!" He wailed.

Ussop tapped him on the head. "Why would you be worried about that!"

"What's happening?" Ayume asked.

Ussop blinked. "Can't you see?"

Ayume closed her eyes and smiled, rubbing the back of her head. "Actually, my eyesight is terrible. I can't see things far away, it's all blurry to me."

"Some kind of sea monster took the Merry away! With the rest of the crew on board!" he turned to Luffy, who was eating a piece of meat. "Hey, Luffy this is bad! what do we do now?" He yelled, his eyes bulging.

"Hmmmm," Luffy rubbed his chin. "Where are they going?"

The three of them turned around and asked Pagaya. The old man looked defeated. "The super speedy shrimp is God's servant; anything transported is a sacrifice to God. In other words they are going to the north east portion of God's island: the sacrificial altar."

"Sacrifices!" Sanji's face had a look of dread on it. "Miss Nami and Robin-Chan and the others will be sacrificed to that god!"

Pagaya only nodded.

"THAT ASSHOLE! DON'T TOY AROUND WITH PEOPLE-"

"For sacrifices, I only heard about it in heaven's judgment there are only two types of punishment for criminals; one is sacrifice and the other is trial. That's what I heard. They're in God's hands now. They're called sacrifices, but are actually hostages, which mean the ones being judged are you four."

"What does that mean….?" The three of them asked, confused.

Ayume only snickered. "Why am I being judged? I didn't do anything except for deny an entrance fee. The one who beat up those soldiers was him." He said pointing to Luffy.

Pagaya glanced at her. "God doesn't see it that way. You came here with the blue sea dwellers, meaning you're with them. So if they're being judged, so are you."

"Well that's not fair."

"The only way to get to the sacrificial alter is using a dial boat and passing the forests where the priests are in." He asked for a map, and when Ussop handed him one, he showed them the way they should have to travel.

0~0~0~0~0

The black boat that they had borrowed from Conis moved down the white river at a pace slower than a snail, or at least that's what it felt like to Ayume. She sighed and leaned her head on the middle bar holding up the umbrella.

"Hey, Ayume," She turned her head toward Sanji, who was sitting next to her. "Are you worried about Conis?"

"Yeah, I hope she's not hurt by that big blast."

"Will she be alright?" Ussop asked.

"Probably, that strange mister didn't look like a bad guy." Luffy said, driving the boat. "This thing is so slow!" He complained.

Ayume tuned out of their minor bickering and thought about what happened at the dock on Sunny Street. She had been right in the line of fire of that giant blast. She should have gotten hurt, but she didn't. She had come out completely unscathed. When the others asked her if she was alight she lied and said that she was standing out of the way so she didn't get hurt.

'But it hit me.' She thought. 'I know it did, yet why am I not injured?'

They sailed farther up the river, and Ayume noticed the entrance to Upper Yard as soon as Ussop did. As they went through it and into the forest, Ayume shivered at the creepy looking tribal statues and torches.

"This place is freaky." She said out loud.

"I agree with Ayume, let's go back!" Ussop said, scared.

Ayume looked at him. "And just leave your crew mates to be sacrificed?"

"They're your crew mates too!" Luffy reminded.

"No they're not!" Ayume shark yelled at him.

"Look at those ships." Ussop pointed out.

"Yeah, they look like they've been cut in half." Sanji said.

Ayume stared at them thoughtfully. The cut was clean, so it had to be a knife or sword of some sort, but she didn't think one was big enough to cut a ship in half as clean as that.

"IT"S COMING!" Ussop screamed at the top of his lungs, right in Ayume's ear.

"What's coming?" She roared over his panicking. He was too busy freaking out to hear her, and she look behind them the same time that Sanji did.

Sanji's eyes widened and he grabbed a paddle and started rowing like a mad man. Ayume did the same thing to the other one on the other side.

"Everyone paddle! Hurry, move the ship forward!" He screamed.

Luffy hit the gas and the Little Crow shot forward as soon as the giant scythe slashed the water at the spot they were not seconds ago. Ayume relaxed, thinking it was all over when Luffy yelled that another one was coming. Ussop grabbed the paddle from her and the boat propelled down the stream, dodging scythe after scythe. Ayume was left grabbing the seat so as not to fall off.

"Look in front, Luffy!" Ussop yelled.

"It's too late Ussop, just take the wheel." Sanji ordered. Luffy had left the driver's seat to come to the back.

"GOMU GOMU NO."His arms stretched back and Ayume wondered what the hell he was doing as Ussop told him he should be aiming in from of them instead of behind.

Sanji had come next to her. "You had better hold onto something, Ayume-Chan." He advised. She did and grabbed the middle pole.

"**BAZOKA!**" Luffy screamed as he hit the scythe that was inches from cutting them.

The little ship flew down the river with surprising speed.

"Whew, it's over."

"That was too close." Ussop looked behind him. "The entrance is already so far away."

"Do you want to get off now?" Luffy asked him.

"Idiot do you want to die!" he shark yelled.

"I was thinking the same thing." Sanji started saying, but couldn't finish because Ayume let out the biggest scream in the world.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She latched onto the closest thing that she could find and that happened to ba Sanji. His eyes burst into hearts and he had the dopiest smile on his face. "SOMEONE START THE BOAT AND MOVE!"

A giant sea leach had burst out of the water and was coming at them.

"Don't worry Ayume-Chwaaaaaan~!" Sanji proclaimed as he got up and kicked the leach, sending it flying over the boat.

"What was that?" Luffy asked wide eyed. "A snake?"

"NO! That was a blood sucking leech!" Ayume yelled.

"Yeah," Ussop said a little blue. "If it ever got a hold on us, we're done for."

"We must continue moving forward!" Sanji yelled.

"Look! It's a giant!" Luffy gasped, pointing ahead of them.

"That's a statue you idiot!" Sanji growled at him.

The cloud river had come to an end and in front of the foursome in the boat were four doors.

"Trial of swamp, trial of iron, trial of string, and trial of orbs." Sanji read.

"Can we go through em all?" Luffy asked.

"Now God wants to play a game with us?" Ussop complained.

"Which one should we go through?" Ayume asked.

"All!" Luffy exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

"We can only choose one!" Sanji yelled at him.

"But which one?" Ussop said, looking at the doorways.

"Ok, we'll choose orb! It sounds fun right?" Luffy asked his crew.

"This is a trial how can this be fun?" Sanji yelled with a tick mark.

"I choose orb too!" Ussop piped in. "It sounds less violent then the other ones."

"What do you think Ayume-Chan?" Sanji asked, with hearts in his eyes.

She looked thoughtfully at the tunnels. "I don't really care. It doesn't matter which one we pick, we're gonna get trouble either way."

"Then it's decided!" Sanji said and Ussop guided the boat into the dark tunnel.

Ayume tuned out the boys bickering as she rubbed her hands together, shivering at the sudden coldness of the tunnel. It wasn't that dark and she could see the exit ahead. When they hit the end of the river, they fell down and landed in another creek. Ayume stopped her screaming and looked around the forest.

"Hey guys." She said making them stop their scuffle and look around. "We're surrounded by white balls."

"These must be the orbs." Luffy exclaimed with a smile. "They're so cool! Like little round clouds!"

"The milky road goes up and down around the trees." Sanji observed.

"Why did they make it so complicated?" Ayume asked. "Just a straight line would have been fine."

"There's supposed to be four priests on the island. Something doesn't seem right."

"Well there was four tunnels, maybe each one leads to a priest." Ayume pointed out.

Ayume turned around and saw Luffy grab a ball. He passed it to Ussop. "Ussop, catch!"

Sanji turned to them. "Watch it!" He shark yelled.

They ignored him and kept passing the ball back and forth. Suddenly it poofed and a snake came out the side. Luffy and Ussop's eyes bulged as they creamed in shock. Luffy pushed the ball away as it tried to bite Ussop.

"Stupid animal! Get out of here!"

"How did a snake get into that ball!" Ayume asked loudly as Ussop informed Sanji of another ball in front of them.

"I'll kick it into smithereens!" He reached his leg back and kicked. The thing exploded and Ayume was left coughing from the smoke.

"What the hell is happening!" Ussop screamed his skin and hair burnt back.

"So they can explode too!" Ayume answered his scream with her own.

"HAHAHAHAHAAH!" Came an annoying sounding voice. The pirates and Ayume all stopped and looked into the forest. "Isn't it fun not knowing what'll appear? These are called 'surprise clouds'."

Ayume then saw him. He was round, like the balls, with gold circles on his belly and wings like the skypeians. He had red hair and was wearing a black hat.

"Welcome to my trial of orbs!" He let out another annoying round of laughter.

Luffy looked at him angrily. "This is your trial!"

"Stop dancing and tell us who you are!" Sanji ordered with shark teeth and a tick mark on his head.

The man kept dancing on one of his balls, ignoring the four in the crow boat.

"Looks like another idiot."  
>"That's a priest?" Sanji lit up like a light. "Hey! Are Miss Nami and the others all right?" He yelled at the round man.<p>

"He stopped dancing and looked their way. "Oh you mean the sacrifices? They'll probably die if they're left their and if they escape, they'll still die, but you should worry about yourselves! If you can't beat me you can't move forward!" he said dancing again.

"Kick his ass Luffy!" Ussop cheered as the strawhat captain walked towards the front of the boat.

"Ok! I'll knock him down." He wound up his arm and threw it back.

The priest sat floating in the air. He perked up when he noticed Luffy. "Oh? About to stretch your arm?"

Ayume heard him. "Wait, Luffy! He knows-"

"GOMU GOMU NO PISTOL!"

The man dodged it easily, leaving Luffy a little confused. He brought his hand up; fingers spread and put it on Luffy's face. A small explosion sent Luffy careening backwards and into a tree.

"LUFFY!" Sanji screamed.

"What the hell was that?" Ayume yelled, leaning over the side of the boat to look at the boy. He was starting to bleed from him nose and mouth.

"It was just a normal punch. It should have no affect on him." Sanji said, trying to persuade himself as well as the other two.

"Punch? That was a little different." The man said. And as Sanji yelled an insult and tried to kick him, he dodged it and put his hand on the cook's face. "It's a power only we monks have: Mantora!" And Sanji was too flown back into the tree. He fell next to Luffy. "This is different from a mere punch." He continued, moving to closer to Ussop.

"Ussop! Look out!" Ayume yelled, But it was too late.

"IMPACT!" The round priest yelled and Ussop flew back as well. "Impact causes damage directly inside the body!" He said, suddenly in front of Ayume.

"Don't even think about it!" She warned him, tensing up.

He let out another laugh. "Your funny little girl!" He moved his hand forward and in the few seconds she had, Ayume thought of a plan.

'I heard him when Luffy tried to punch him. He can predict out movement. So all I need to do is just go with the flow, right? Should be easy enough.'

She just stood there as Luffy yelled at her to move. When the priests hand came to her face, she moved purely out of reflexes, grabbing his arm at the same time.

"What's this! You're trying to trick me already?" He asked amused.

"Ayume, don't try to fight him!" Sanji yelled, breaking her concentration. The priest only smiled and moved behind her, using his hand to send her flying into one of the trees on the opposite sides.

"AYUME!" The three yelled, asking her if she was alright and telling her to get up and go away. She only laid there as the priest introduced himself to the guys.

"My name is Satori! I am one of the almighty God Enel's priests! This forest of Illusion is under my control!"

"Forest of illusion?" Luffy asked.

"Yes! And one of the illusions is your boat! It will continue to drift on the milky road and soon exit the forest! Do you get it? If you don't have a boat you can't get to your friends! Welcome to the Upper Yard! In the forest of illusion the survival chance is only 10%! It's the TRIAL OF ORBS!"

Sanji immediately ran to Ayume. She was waking up. "AYUME-CHWAAAAN! Are you alright my dear?" He asked helping her into a sitting position.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." She waved him off and stood up.

"He started to panic. "Are you sure you should be up? I mean you're already weak as it is and that was no light tap to the head!"

Satori started laughing. "HOHAHAOAHAHO! He's calling you weak my dear and from what I've seen you are!" He let out another laugh as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Right now I am; there's no use denying that." She knew she was weak thanks to the seastone in her back, so she probably wouldn't be much of a help in the fight.

He stopped laughing and looked at her, surprised that his insult didn't hurt her.

"Guys, if we don't get the boat back…" Ussop trailed off and started running towards the sailing crow.

Sanji gave a questioning look towards Luffy and he nodded and cracked his knuckles. "Go stop the boat! I'll take down orb guy."

Ayume started running after Ussop. Sanji looked back at Luffy. "Don't goof around, that guy has some weird powers! I'll be back after we find the boat."

"Ussop, I can't see anything from down here!" Ayume called after him. "Give me a hand!" The sniper used some rope he had to get Ayume up onto the tree branch next to him. She thanked him and deftly jumped to the next one, looking for the black boat, leaving an impressed Ussop standing on the tree branch.

As she maneuvered through the trees she noticed Ussop yell that one off the balls was going towards Sanji. Before it hit him, it bounced off a tree and came towards Ussop instead.

"AHHHH It was after me the whole time!" He wailed as he jumped off the branch. Ayume winced when he hit the ground.

'A fall from that height hurts if you don't know how to land.'

Luffy then burst through the trees. "YOU BASTARD!"

The priest turned his head. "Oh?"

"GOMU GOMU NO MACHINE GUN!" Luffy started punching and kicking in random directions, hitting the balls and everything but the priest.

"LUFFY STOP! Don't hit the orbs!" Sanji screamed, but it was too late. Luffy stopped and looked at all the balls now moving at rapid speeds around him.

"What else can this idiot mess up?" Ayume mutter under her breath as she dodged a while ball.

"HOHOHO! You guys are quite interesting!" Satori laughed.

A ball sailed her way and she tried to duck but it hit her arm. A bunch of spears came out and started scratching her. She put her arm out to stop them and then paused when she noticed that nothing had cut her. She looked to her arm and grinned like an idiot.

'Of course!' She thought. 'The metal weaved through my skin may be caused by my devil fruit powers, but it's not the actual power itself! So of course it will still work and protect me!' She pushed the orb away and looked around the forest.

Another ball came at her and she didn't have enough time to dodge it. It hit her in the shoulder and bounced off. Nothing happened and it just stayed there, floating above her. She sweatdropped as it just floated. Then it sprouted arms and legs and she realized that it was the priest.

"You're quite intriguing girl! How did you not get cut?" Before he could use the thing he called impact she ran the length of the branch and jumped off the edge. She used Ussop's belt rope to slide to the Crow Boat. When she let go, Ussop was left dangling backwards, reaching towards her.

"I got it guys!" She called to them.

"HAHA Not so fast!" Came Satori's voice and another ball was heading towards her. She couldn't dodge it and it hit her. The thing exploded and sent Ayume flying back into another tree. She hit her head, and fought to stay conscious. She saw Luffy, Sanji, and Ussop get pummeled with Satori's impact. "The end is near!" he said, as he created a dragon with the orb balls.

Ayume groaned and tried to sit up. She yelped in pain. The explosion had hit her stomach and must have bruised it.

"God damn balls." She muttered. Standing and leaning on the tree. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Luffy going at the priest again with the dragon thing behind him. She closed them and sighed, not expecting the giant explosion to occur.

The rest of the fight went on smoothly. In fact, Ayume didn't expect it to be Sanji who delivered the final blow to the white meatball of a priest. She could hear the footsteps of the cook coming towards her at a rapid pace.

"OHHHH MISS AYUME! ARE YOU ALRIGHT? SORRY I HAD TO LEAVE YOUR SIDE MY PRECIOUS ANGEL!" As he got closer he tried to hug her, but she just knocked him on the head.

"Just shut up, Sanji. There's no time for that." She said with a tick mark.

"Yes, Ayume-Chwaaaaan." He cooed, lying on the ground, a bump forming on his head.

"Hey you two!" Luffy called from the boat. "Hurry or you'll get left behind." He then stretched his arm and grabbed onto Ayume. Sanji, who had gotten up, quickly grabbed onto her leg as she was pulled into the black boat. She landed with an oof on top of Ussop and Sanji on top of her. She pushed of the fawning love cook and got off of Ussop.

"Jeez Luffy was that necessary?"

He looked at her confused. "How else would you have gotten on?"

0~0~0~0~0

"Look! There's the Going Merry! We've found the altar!" Luffy exclaimed, pointing at the stone structure with the ship on top.

"Finally!" Ayume said.

Sanji started waving his arms, his eyes turned to hearts. "Yay! MISS NAMI! ROBIN-CHAAAAAAN~~~ I HAVE FINALLY PASSED THE TRIALS OF LOVE FOR YOU!~~" He screamed at the two women standing on the bank of the altar's pond.

Luffy scratched his head. "Was that the trial we needed to pass?"

"No, it wasn't." Ayume whispered to him.

Ussop stood up and put one leg on the side of the boat. "Were you scared? Well no need to be now cause the great captain Ussop has arrived!"

As they stepped on the first step of the stairs, Chopper ran to Luffy and hugged him, tears streaming down his face.

"I'm so glad you're here!" Ayume smiled a little at the reindeer's show of affection.

She patted him on the head as he let go of Luffy. "Were you scared?"

"NO!" He snorted. "I wasn't scared, even though they left me all by myself! I even protected the ship!"

Ayume gave him a warm smile. "Well it sounds like you did perfectly fine on your own!"

"Hey, you guys! Hurry up here." Nami called from the ship.

When they reached the top, the first thing Ussop noticed was the lack of a mast. Chopper explained what had happened while he was protecting the ship and Luffy asked to go see the sky knight. Nami, Ussop, and Sanji followed the two in the room up on the top deck, leaving Ayume alone.

She yawned and stretched her arms, wincing a little at her middle area. She lifted her shirt and saw a light bruise starting to form. "It doesn't look that bad." She said to herself.

"It'll be worse by tomorrow."

Ayume jumped at the sound of Zoro's voice. She didn't know he had stayed on the deck with her. She quickly pulled her shirt down and looked at him, knowing she was blushing a little. He was sitting on the railing, one of his legs propped up in his usual sitting position, looking out at the forest.

"Oh really? And what are you a doctor?"

He glanced at her. "No, but even I know that bruises get worse in color after sometime. If you've been through as much crap as you've said you have, then you should know that too."

Robin walked up next to them. "Leave the poor girl alone, swordsman-san. I'm sure her and the others had to go through a lot to get to us."

The door opened and the rest of the crew came out.

"Anyways, let's just go ashore in the forest." Sanji said. "We'll go camping next to the lake! If something happens it'll be a better place to fight too!"

"WHOOO HOOO CAMPING!" Luffy exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

"Can we have a bonfire and sing campfire songs!" Ayume asked excited.

"This is no time for goofing off!" Ussop yelled with shark teeth.

"Come on," Nami motioned for Zoro and Sanji to follow her. "We'll start getting the stuff, the rest of you go find us a spot." She ordered.

"It has to be someplace cool!" Luffy persisted.

"I know, Luffy! You've only told us this 5 time already." Ayume snapped at him as she jumped over an abnormally large tree root. They had been looking for a spot for the past 7 minutes and Luffy had found something wrong with each one that they had picked.

"How about this place!" Chopper called a little ways ahead of them. Luffy and Ayume rushed over to the sound of his voice. It was in the middle of a bunch of trees, roots of all size surrounding it in a circle. There was plenty of room in center of the place, a good spot for camping.

"I like it." Robin began. "It has a certain air about it that seems safe for now."

Ayume clapper hands together. "It's perfect!"

"I don't like it!" Luffy exclaimed. "Next one!" He started to walk off, but Ayume grabbed him by the collar.

"Not so fast, we all agree that this is a good place, right Ussop?" Ussop nodded and Ayume smiled at the stubborn captain. "See? So you're over ruled."

Luffy pouted as the rest of them arrived with the camping gear.

"Great spot!" Nami complimented.

"Of course it is! I, the great captain Ussop, picked it out!"

"No I did!" Chopper yelled at him.

"Oi, just shut up and help set up the camp." Zoro ordered as he pulled a tent out and threw it at the arguing duo.

When the camp was set up, Sanji started cooking one of the cloud sharks as both groups told of what had happened to them.

"So this place was the golden city that old man and those monkey brother's have been trying to find?" Ayume asked.

Nami nodded. "Yes! This whole place used to be in the blue sea."

"Gold eh? I've been waiting for an adventure like this!" Luffy said, clenching his fists in excitement.

"We have to go! We're pirates, after all." Sanji said.

"And the fact that this is a game of survival makes it more fun." Zoro put in, smirking. "We could actually die."

Robin started laughing silently. "It actually sounds fun!"

"YOSH! It's decided then!" Luffy yelled in excitement. "We'll go get the gold!"

Ayume sat around uncomfortable as the other crew members yelled in agreement. She wasn't sure if she should yell with them or just stay quiet. I mean after all, if she helped find the gold it would still be theirs to take. She wasn't part of the crew.

'I wonder how big the golden city is. Maybe all the buildings are covered in gold!'

"Hey, Ayume?" Nami suddenly asked. "Would you mind going back to the ship and getting me my feather pen?"

"Oh sure thing Nami." Ayume said.

When Ayume got back, Sanji was throwing food into a pot, Nami was dragging a crate to a flat surface by a tree stump, and Luffy was sitting on a tree stump looking bored. Zoro, Chopper, and Robin were nowhere to be found and she assumed that they must have gone out into the forest to find some food.

Nami looked up when she was done placing her crate. "Thank you Ayume." She said as she took her pen.

"AYUME!" She jumped when she heard Luffy's call. He practically stormed over Sanji, making him yell that if he messes up Luffy will have to make dinner. "Play with me, I'm bored!"

"If you're bored than you can watch the water over the fire." Sanji said, grabbing his shoulder and dragging him to the fire.

Ayume looked around, not knowing what to do. Eventually she decided to lie against one of the giant trees. She felt her eyes start to droop and soon she was fast asleep.

After a few hours someone woke her up. She turned to see Robin crouched by her feet. Rubbing her eyes, Ayume slowly sat up.

"Hey Robin, Is it time for dinner?"

She laughed. "Sometimes you think like Luffy. Yes, it's time for dinner and a briefing on the treasure hunt tomorrow so rise and shine. After you eat I'm sure you can go back to sleep when we're done."

"Hehe ok."

"This is delicious!" Luffy exclaimed downing another bowel of the soup Sanji made.

"Didn't you just eat an entire sky shark?" Sanji asked him.

"Yeah but that was a snack!"

"Everyone here?" Nami asked as she surveyed the people around the fire. "Where's Ayume?"

"Here," Ayume answered as she sat down on a tree root a few feet away from Zoro. She started eating her bowl of soup hungrily.

"Ok," Nami continued. "Let's review the contents of Noland's picture books. He first discovered the golden city four years ago. Then a few years later he revisited Jaya, but the golden city had already vanished without a trace." She pushed her glasses up. "In other words, this island was a part of Jaya and in those few years between Norland's visits, it had come up to the sky."

"Did it ride the knock up stream to?" Chopper asked walking over to the bowel of medicine he had set next to Ayume.

"Yes, that's the best guess since Mr. Criket said that the location of the explosion varies every time. With that amount of power it's possible that even an entire island could have flown up!"

"Just one thing," Zoro put in, still chewing a mouthful of food. "We went to the forest in Jaya before and those two forests are completely different."

"Hm, that is likely due to the strange substances inside the sea cloud and island cloud. They seem to abnormally enhance the plant and animal growth rate." Robin put in.

"That south bird that saved us was this big!" Chopper widened his arms in emphasis.

Sanji threw a steaming hot bowel to Zoro. "Why did those south birds save you?"

"I don't know, but they were calling the sky knight God."

"So then I just have to beat up that old guy!" Luffy asked, getting excited.

"Of course not, you idiotic bastard!" Ussop yelled, his teeth getting sharp.

"Let's think back on the information on the golden city that we read in Noland's diary!" Nami interrupted, trying to get the team back on track.

"HE SAW GOLD!" Luffy said.

"We know that you idiotic bastard!" Ussop once again yelled.

"Well, there was that golden bell. And something about a south bird."

"And 'In the skull's right eye, gold is seen." Robin added.

"That's it!" Nami brought out two sheets of paper and began explaining what she found out. They decided to split into two groups, one to go get the treasure and the other brings the boat around the island.

"Phew! I'm full!" Luffy patted his stomach, smiling. "Tomorrow we'll get gold!"

"Let's put the fire out. We have no use of it anymore and we'll expose our position to the enemy." Robin suggested.

"Such an amature." Luffy said, suddenly getting serious as he crossed his arms. "She wants to put out the fire!" He said to Ussop, who only shook his head.

"It's ok; she's been living a dark life so she couldn't have known!" He defended her.

Ayume was just as confused as Robin. "What are you guys talking about?"

They both suddenly fell to the ground, shaking in anguish. "You never put a campfire out!"

Ayume laughed. "They do have a point Robin."

Nami started yelling at the two idiots when Zoro yelled out Luffy's name.

"Is this a big enough wood pile for you?" He asked raising his hand towards the giant wood structure that he and Sanji had built.

"Not you to!" Nami shark yelled.

"Don't be afraid, Nami-Swan~!" Sanji assured. "Those beasts are afraid of the dark!"

A low growl seemed to echo through the forest and Ayume shivered at the noise. A white wolf walked out from the shadows behind Sanji. Nami paled and started stuttering. The wolf growled again.

"It said, 'You dumbass humans think you can just come into my forest and make a ruckus?" Chopper translated.

Luffy walked up to it and started talking. Ayume knew that it was only a matter of time before he made friends with the things, or piss them off even more. Then the wolf barked and they raced off into the forest. Chopper said that they would be coming back after they grabbed something.

"LIGHT THE FIRE!" Luffy ordered his hands above his head.

Sanji threw a match into the wooden structure and soon the logs we ablaze as the wolves came back to their campsite. They had maracas and some kind of beverage. Ayume stared as one of them handed her one and looked at her as if expecting her to get up. She did and soon the clearing was alive with dancing wolves and the strawhat pirates.

'Wow! I never knew that these guys could be so much fun!' She thought as she danced around the giant bonfire, smiling like there was no tomorrow. She swayed and screamed along with the other party goers. Robin smiled, watching the usually quiet girl let loose.

"What's so funny?" Zoro asked her, taking another drink of the wolves' juice.

"Nothing swordsman-san. I was just thinking about how much Ayume has let loose in her time with us."

He took another swig as he studied the girl dancing with Luffy and Chopper. One of the wolves howled and the other's joined him. Luffy, Chopper, Ussop, and Ayume howled along with them, the girl's face was lit up with joy that Zoro knew only his captain could bring out.

"It's not surprising." He said shrugging his shoulders. "Luffy sure has a way with making people laugh and lose their control of themselves." He looked out at the celebrators, his eyes drawn to the girl.

Chopper had shifted into his human form, with Luffy on his shoulder and Ussop had Ayume on his. They were laughing as they were trying to push the other off onto the ground. Luffy had grabbed her by the shoulders and she grabbed onto his arms. They both pulled at the same time and ended up bumping their heads together. All four of them crashed to the ground, laughing and grinning like idiots. He only smiled and shook his head at their antics, thinking about how much Ayume had already fit into their little group.

"LET'S SING SOME CAMPFIRE SONGS!" She yelled receiving excited agreements.

* * *

><p>* this is written in Japanese, cause that's how they write in one piece.<p>

And there we go, A first look at Ayume's past! Who are the Holy Hearts Society? Why did they have a bunch of kids mining seastone and why do they need scientists for? Let's not find out next time because I need to get through the Skypeia Arc first...

10,669 words and 21 pages, longest I've written so far! ^-^


	5. Chapter Four

_An eventual ZoroxOC story_

_Disclaimer: Yeah, I think its pretty obvious what I do and do not own here_

* * *

><p><em>Zoro only smiled and shook his head at their antics, thinking about how much Ayume had already fit into their little group. "LET'S SING SOME CAMPFIRE SONGS!" She yelled receiving excited agreements.<em>

* * *

><p>"Here you go Robin-Swan, Ayume-Chwan! I prepared the finest box lunches for your trip." Sanji produced two bags. "And I put in some drinking water in case you get thirsty."<p>

Robin took the packs and handed the blue one to Ayume, who put it on her back. "Thank you cook-san, we appreciate it."

"Yeah, thank's Sanji."

"Sanji!" Luffy called as the cooks eyes turned to hearts and he proclaimed how it was no trouble to help two beautiful angels. "Where's ours!"

"Over there," He pointed to the side where three more bags were sitting. "Get them yourself."

Zoro only rolled his eyes and retrieved the bags for the rest of the explore team. He threw Luffy one and handed Chopper the other. "We better get going."

"Right!" Luffy exclaimed. "Let's go!"

"Remember," Nami reminded them as they headed into the forest. "Grab all the treasure you can find!"

"Will do Nami!" Ayume answered her, giving her a don't-worry-smile. "Which way do we head to Robin?" She asked turning to the archeologist. They were now standing between two of the trees, Zoro and Luffy walking ahead of them.

"Where do you think you're going Zoro? The west is this way!" Luffy pointed to the wrong direction and started walking. He sighed. "You're such an idiot with no sense of direction."

"Oi! Luffy! Don't you ever listen? She said it's 'skulls right eye' so we go to the right. That's this way you dumbass!" He retorted facing the opposite way that Luffy was going.

"South, which is this way." Robin answered Ayume. "Will you go tell them Chopper?" She asked the reindeer.

"Ok!" He ran off to the two bickering boys.

"Zoro's sense of direction is unbelievable." Ayume mumbled as the trio started to follow the two ladies. "It's a wonder he doesn't get lost on his own ship!"

"Robin, why didn't you tell us we were going south in the first place?" Luffy asked, running a stick along the trees.

As Chopper started fawning over Luffy's toy, Ayume turned to Robin. "I'm tired of walking!" She complained. "How long until we get there?"

"If you don't want to walk maybe you should ask someone to carry you?" The woman suggested a small smirk at the girl's laziness.

"Ok!" Ayume looked at her choices until her eyes settled on a certain green-haired man with one hand in his pocket and the other lazily resting on his swords. Grinning, she jumped over to him and gripped his shoulders. Before he could react, she jumped in the air and positioned herself on top of them. He stumbled with shock and looked up. His eyes met with mischievous black ones.

"Ayume? What the hell?"

"Walking is boring. Carry me!" She ordered, smiling.

"Get off!" He yelled. He grabbed her legs tried to push her off of him, but she wouldn't budge.

"Carry me!" She repeated, until he only sighed in defeat and grabbed her ankles so she wouldn't lose her balance and fall on the ground.

"Why me?" He asked, more like whined. "I'm sure you would have much more fun riding on top of Luffy instead."

"Oh quit complaining. Luffy's having his own fun and you're strong enough to carry me." He only grumbled something and continued walking.

Ayume reached up and tried to grab some of the leaves from the giant bushes above her. She couldn't reach and, with surprising ease, stood on Zoro's shoulders. He stopped walking and looked up at her.

"What are you doing, barnacle head?" he asked, looking up at her.

She paused her destruction of the plant life to glance at him. "What're you talking about?"

"Sit back down or get off. I don't want to be blamed when you fall."

She laughed and let go of the leaves she was holding. They fell down all around the two as she bent her knees to get closer to his face, looking at him upside down, because his head was tilted upwards. "The last thing you need to worry about is me falling off of something."She assured, giving him a sincere smile. The sudden closeness made Zoro loose his train of thought and before he could think of something to say, she turned his head back the way it was supposed to go and put both of her hands on his green hair. She swung her legs up into the air, making sure her body was straight. "See?" She assured as she kept her handstand. "Even if you were fighting a lion, I would still be able to keep my balance." She put her feet back on his shoulders and stood straight up. "Now start walking, or we'll be left behind."

"If you don't want to be left behind then why don't you get off and walk on your own!" He shark yelled at her.

"Because I told you, walking is boring." She answered as they caught up to the group.

Suddenly the ground started to shake, causing Zoro to grab Ayume's ankles again when he felt her start to sway. "What the hell was that?" Zoro asked out loud. His question was answered when a snake bigger than the trees appeared in front of them.

"It's a snake!" Luffy screamed.

Zoro let go of Ayume and crouched down, forgetting she was standing on his shoulders. "Hey big guy, I'll cut you in half!" He threatened as he started unsheathing his sword.

The snake then rushed forward with surprising speed as everyone jumped out of the way. It made a biting grab for Luffy and ended up with a mouthful of tree. Ayume had jumped off of Zoro as soon as the thing moved. She landed on its back, watching the tree start to deteriorate.

"WOW! Look at that venom." She exclaimed, watching in awe.

"Get off of that thing!" Zoro screamed at her from his position in one of the trees, a tick mark appearing on his head as she waved him off.

"Calm down, moss brain."

"Get up here stupid!" He shark yelled.

The snake moved again and Ayume jumped off onto a tree opposite of the annoyed marimo. "Happy now? I'm off the poisonous snake. I wonder if I can milk the venom off of it." She said thoughtfully.

He looked at her like she was crazy. "Why the hell would you need poison?" He shark yelled.

Ayume saw the snake come at her and jumped backwards onto the ground. It ran into the tree, making it shake and sway. Thinking it would fall, she started running behind her.

'Well that's weird. I didn't hear a crash.' She turned around and saw that she had no clue where she was. She sweatdropped, knowing that she was now lost.

Ayume started scratching her head. "I guess I'll just have to pick a direction and see if I can meet up with the others." She paused, looked around, "Left it is then." And started walking.

0~0~0~0~0

"Gah, it feels like I've been walking for hours!" Ayume complained as she rounded another tree. She had only been walking for an hour, but for her it felt like 10. "I was sure that south was this direction, but maybe I was wrong." She stopped and scratched the back of her head in confusion. "Or maybe it was this way."

She shook her head and continued walking in the direction that she originally picked. She soon crossed a fallen tree, and another one after that. The whole are around her was covered with plant debris and burn marks on the remaining trees surrounding it. There was still smoke, meaning that whatever had happened it was quiet recent. She coughed, accidently inhaling some of the smoke.

"Who's there?" A voice asked.

There was a figure in the smoke. It was a man, and from the looks of it quite tall. He was holding something, but because it was only a dark outline, Ayume could only make out a shape that looked like a gun. Quietly, she reached down and grabbed a rock. Quickly she stood up and threw it at the figure. Quick as a flash, it was gone, leaving her to wonder if it was just her imagination that made her see someone.

"So you're one of those blue sea dwellers." A masculine voice from behind her stated. She turned around and saw the man from the smoke. He was very tan and he was bald on top of his head except for a small part that was his pony tail. His tattooed arm was holding a silver bazooka.

"What's it to you?" She asked him, going on the defensive.

"That means that you're with that strawhat boy, am I right?"

Ayume blinked, not showing her surprise. 'So he's already met Luffy?' "Maybe, why would it matter?"

"Then that means you're the enemy!" The man yelled as he raised his large gun. Ayume jumped out of the way as he fired his bullet. It was the size of a mini cannonball and when it hit the tree, it exploded, sending Ayume farther back. She twisted in the air and landed on her feet.

"The hell man! I havn't even done anything and you're labeling me as the enemy!"

"Anyone who's not a cyandorians is an enemy along with that snake, Enel!" He yelled as he fired yet another cannon. Ayume dodged it and it exploded, once again sending her flying backwards. This time, she slammed into a tree and fell on her stomach. She groaned, resting on her elbows.

A shadow came over her and she turned her head to see the man. He had his gun aimed right at her. "You're not as much trouble as that strawhat." And shot.

Ayume screamed in pain. The cannon exploded on her backside and the strange man stood there for a second, watching her move in agony and then left, like nothing ever happened.

She lay there, in too much pain to move. The smell of blood was strong, and she hoped that his attack didn't leave a hole in her back. Twisting around and ignoring the sharp jolt of pain, she sat up and leaned against the wall. There was blood spattered on the ground along with bits of her t-shirt, but what caught her eye were the chunks of rock that were all around her. 'Did it…' She felt along her back and was surprised to feel there were many pieces of seastone missing in her back.

Gritting her teeth so she wouldn't scream, Ayume pulled the remaining seastone out. Each tug was like a thousand and one bee stings that hit her a million times. After a grueling half hour, her back was stone free and she immediately felt an indescribable weight lifted off of her. She gasped at the change and fell forward, laying on the burnt grass and leaves.

"I'll just take a nap here." She trailed off, passing out from the pain.

After ten minutes, Ayume woke up again. Her back still hurt, but it had dulled to a giant ant bite instead of a bee sting. It still hurt a lot, but not as much. She stood up and her wound immediately protested. She would have stayed down, but she knew that she needed to find Chopper and the others. She was bleeding heavily still and if she didn't get some treatment she would pass out or die from blood loss.

Ayume paused and leaned against a tree. She tore the bottom half of her shirt, leaving her stomach exposed. Ripping the shirt into strips, she tied them around her middle-section, making sure that they were tight. 'This should stop the bleeding for a while.' She thought when she was done.

As Ayume continued walking through the forest she thought about what the rest of the group was doing. 'I hope they're not all lost. That would be bad and knowing them, only Robin would make it to our destination.' She kept going, lost in thought about the pirate crew she was traveling with. Now that all the seastone was out of her back, she didn't have a reason to stay with them anymore. She could hitch a ride from somewhere in Skypeia and leave. The thought would have originally made her relieved, but for some reason it made her sad. Even though she's only spent a couple of days with them, they feel like close friends and saying goodbye sounded like an emotional train wreck. She didn't know what to do when it came time to separate.

"The earth seems to end here." She noticed as she came to the edge of the forest. Before her was a large expanse of the clouds. In the middle was a large beanstalk, but that's not the thing that caught her eye. No, the thing that she was looking at was the cage that was next to it and the two people standing in front of it. One of them was a woman and the other was a shirtless man with big pants. Even with her bad eyesight Ayume could tell the man was a threat from the way the woman cowered from him.

"WAIT ENEL!" Ayume looked inside the cage, she recognized that voice and she stepped out and started walking towards the people. She stopped about ten feet away. "DON'T YOU DARE DO ANYTHING TO HER!"

"FOOL! Worry about yourself!" Came a second voice, but the man paid it no mind as he continued to yell.

"LOCKY! DON'T DO ANYTHING! JUST RUN AWAY!"

No one moved for a second, except for the person trying to attack the tattooed guy.

"You're mine Wyper!" The thing yelled as it attacked him.

Ayume could sense that the man, Enel, was about to do something to the woman, and of course she wasn't about to just stand by and watch. Using her devil fruit powers, she was able to sense the gold on Enel's body. She picked up her hands, wanting to thrust the gold to the side, away from the woman. If she did that, his body would follow and she would have time to escape, but as soon as she raised her hands, he disappeared in a flash of light.

He appeared in front of her, staring down without any real interest. "Who are you?"

"AYUME!" Zoro suddenly yelled, surprised that the girl was here. He took in her appearance and saw the ripped shirt and homemade bandages around her stomach that were covered in blood. He could only stare intensely at the so called God and his nakama. 'What has she gotten herself into?' He thought.

Enel didn't give Ayume time to reply to his question before he reached out and touched her forehead. He only stared as Ayume screamed, a bright yellow light surrounding her.

"It doesn't matter who you are. If you oppose God, you will be punished." He said as he turned to Locky.

As Ayume fell to the ground, everyone could see her skin, which only made them confused. She seemed to be covered in millions of small red strings that were imbedded in her skin all over her body. Some of them were broken, and were ejected from the surface and as they cooled down, everyone could see that they were metal that had been melted from the lightning. This girl had somehow laced metal throughout her skin, all over her body.

Ayume was only half conscious as she watched Enel electrocute Locky. She listened as he advised the ones in the cage not to die.

'This sucks.' She thought as she passed out for the second time that day.

0~0~0~0~0

When Zoro woke up, he wasn't all that surprised to see that he had been moved. He sat up and took in his surroundings. They were now at the second level of clouds, above the city of Cyandora. The sky was dark and as he looked up, he saw the reason why. There was a massive storm cloud covering the entire area of upper yard. Lightning bolts were hitting the island and he knew that somehow, Enel was doing this.

Zoro looked around at his comrades. The only one's still passed out were Sanji, Chopper, and Ayume. He looked at the girls form. She was bloody and bruised, but that wasn't the one thing that worried him. Her whole body was still covered in those silver strings. 'Metal.' He remembered. 'She has metal in her skin.'

"What are those strange markings on her skin?" Ussop asked, suddenly next to her. He kneeled down to get a closer look and grabbed one of her arms, pulling it up to his face. "It's like silver string or something."

"It's some kind of metal." Zoro said.

"Some of its melted!" Ussop exclaimed, noticing the ones that had broken through her skin.

"When Enel electrocuted her, her skin had a bunch of red veins covering it." Zoro explained. "It has to be metal."

"So she has metal in her skin?" Ussop rubbed the back of his head. "She must be a robot."

Zoro hit him. "She's not a robot stupid; it has to be her devil fruit powers er something."

Ussop then looked up and started to scream. A piece of the beanstalk was falling down. It landed with a crash onto the cloud.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Zoro asked himself, looking up into the sky.

"AHHHH SOMETHINGS FALLING DOWN AGAIN!" Ussop screamed, pointing upwards. Sure enough, a giant leaf was falling. It landed lighter than Zoro expected it to and everyone who was conscious walked closer to it to get a better look.

"It has something written on it!" Aisa pointed out.

"It's a message from Nami and Luffy!"

"What does it say?"

"Cut the beanstalk and make it fall westward." Robin read, getting silence from the others.

"What good would that do?" Ussop asked. "LOOK AGAIN!" He pointed at the sky for a second time and what Zoro saw made his blood run cold. "It's even bigger than the other one! There's no way we can escape from that we're all doomed!" Ussop whined.

0~0~0~0~0

Ayume woke up to a beautiful ringing. It was like nothing she had ever heard before and the sound was enough to fill her with a sense of wonder and happiness that she hadn't felt in a long time. It was amazing and she had to squint her eyes when she opened them for the sun was smiling at the sky with the air of freedom. As she sat up, she was greeted with the happy faces of Robin, Chopper, Sanji, Ussop, Ganfall, and a little girl. They all looked relieved and worn out. Sanji was covered in bandages and Chopper had dried blood all over his torso, leaving Ayume to wonder just how long she was passed out.

Ussop crossed his arms as he leaned on one leg, watching her with a carefree grin. "Well, look who's finally awake."

"AYUME-CHWAN! I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE OK!" Sanji cooed at the girl lying on the ground. He had gotten up and was standing beside her, his eyes ablaze with hearts.

""I seemed to have missed out on all the fun, havn't I?" She breathed as she tried standing up, but it was to no avail because her back immediately protested to the movement. She let out a small cry as Chopper rushed to her and set her back down on the ground.

"Don't get up! You're probably going to be hurt the most due to your condition."

"Don't worry Ayume," Robin said. "We'll carry you down so you won't have to waste too much energy."

"Down where?" She asked, but stopped when Chopper changed forms and picked her up. Robin then used her devil fruit powers to get the eight of them down to the golden city. As they made their way down what was left of the broken beanstalk, Ayume realized how much she was in pain and how exhausted she was. Her back was on fire from the movements that she was making it go through and the post-lightning bolt wasn't helping either, but she soon ignored the feeling when her eyes caught sight of the ruins.

The buildings were built with stone and beautiful even though they were covered in weeds and were breaking apart. She could see the architectural care that was put into every spot. She then realized that this must be the 'Golden City' that they had been trying to find since this morning. She looked around and surveyed the lack of gold as Chopper landed on the ground and set her down.

"Oi, Chopper." Ayume and everyone else turned when they heard Zoro's voice. He was sitting on a rock, one leg propped up and a hand resting lazily on his swords. He was battered and had a lot of injuries, but that didn't seem to bother him as he stared at his crewmates. "You should take a look at him." He said nodding to the cyandorian passed out on the ground. Chopper let out a small cry of shock and made his way over to Wyper.

Starting to get a little dizzy, Ayume sat down on the ground, she crossed her legs pretzel style as she leaned back against a building. She raised her arms and looked at herself, frowning. Her skin was burned and she still had the metal sticking out all over. She knew that she should probably work on the metal in her skin first, but she just didn't have the energy to do it at the moment. She knew that she had to before Chopper got to her or else he might insist on taking all the metal out. But that might be a good thing. 'I could weave in new metal; this stuff has to have weakened from what it's been through.' She thought.

"HEEEEEEEEY!"

Ayume turned her head sharply at the sound of Luffy's voice. He was running towards them with Nami, Conis, and a giant brown bag trailing after him. His signature grin was plastered on his face and Sanji yelled out Nami and Conis's names.

"I'm so glad you're all safe!" Conis cried when the trio was standing in front of them. "I was so worried but I couldn't do a thing!" She yelled, crying into her hands.

Sanji started doing his noodle love dance. "Oh Conis-Chan~! Were you really that worried about me?"

Ussop turned his head to the cook. "Stop acting crazy."

Zoro's eyebrow's perked up as he saw what was in Luffy's hand and the giant bag behind them. "Is that food? Where'd you get it?"

"We found the priest's storage on the way here. There's still a lot more left." Nami explained.

"Conis, where's your father?" Zoro asked out of the blue, noticing the man wasn't with them.

"He protected me…. And Enel..." She trailed off, her head faced to the ground and Ayume looked at her in understanding. She knew what Conis wasn't saying, as did the rest of the crew for they looked at her with sympathy and shock, until the old man appeared behind them.

"FATHER!" Conis yelled as she rushed over and hugged him like her life depended on it. He smiled and patted her head as she cried tears of relief.

"It's ok now Conis." He assured her.

"What happened to you!" She demanded as he sat down on a stone.

"I fell through the bottom." Conis paused, confused. He smiled at her again. "Everyone from Angel Beach was there, heading back up here. I suppose that since their homes are destroyed, they're going to have to live in Upper Yard now." He said rubbing the back of his head.

Conis jumped up, a bright smile on her face. "Let's go help them, Father!" She grabbed his hand and together, the two of them left to go wait for the citizens.

"Oi Luffy," Zoro said as he walked up to the strawhat. "Give me some of that food!"

Soon all of the pirates and Ayume were scarfing down the grub that Luffy and Nami had brought down. In a matter of minutes all of it was gone and they were left with content, full bellies.

"I'm so full I could explode!" Ayume giggled, lying down. She winced as her back screamed at her, but she was too happy to give into the pain at the moment.

"I'm full too!" Luffy exclaimed, patting his enlarged stomach.

"I would expect as much!" She turned her head to him, grinning from ear to ear. "You ate more than half of that bag!"

Ussop looked up to the sky. "Is it night time already?" He observed.

Ayume looked up to as Sanji asked what they were to do now. Nami suggested going back to the ship.

"How could you say that!" Ayume turned back to the captain, who was standing up indignantly with his hands on his hips. Ussop was in the same position next to him. "Ussop how could she say that!"

Ussop started shaking his head. "She's inhuman!"

Nami's teeth got sharp as she yelled, "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!"

Zoro smirked up at the navigator. "You know exactly what their talking about."

"Yeah Nami," Chopper said, walking towards Ayume with some medical supplies. "Luffy wants a party."

She only sighed and pushed her hair back from her forehead, smiling a little. "I should have known." She said chuckling as Ussop and Luffy ran off.

"Ayume." Chopper grabbed her attention. "May I look at your wounds?"

She smiled and sighed. "Yeah go ahead."

Ayume laid down on the ground as Chopper started taking off the makeshift t-shirt bandages. When they were all off he proceeded to clean the blood off, and gasped at what he saw.

"All the seastone is gone!"

"Hehe, yeah. I kind of pulled it out after that Wyper guy shot me with his bazooka gun." She confessed.

Someone in front of her whistled. She looked up to see Nami and Zoro standing not even a foot away.

"Damn, how many times did he shoot you?" Zoro asked.

"Once." Ayume answered, wincing when Chopper started to put alcohol on the wound.

"You pulled out all that seastone by yourself?"

She shrugged. "Half of it was already blasted off anyways and besides, I was getting tired of my restrictions." She said with a grimace.

Chopper stopped bandaging to look at her with sad eyes. "So I guess this means you'll be leaving now, doesn't it?"

Ayume paused at the sadness in the reindeer's voice. "I guess so." She trailed off, lost in thought and Nami noticed her depressed expression. Zoro raised his eye brows at the devilish smile the red head sported as she turned around and shrugged her shoulders.

"Well I guess there's nothing we can do about that. You did say that you wanted to leave after you got the seastone out of your back. I'm sure that you have much more important things to do then stay with our measly little pirate crew." She walked away, leaving a troubled Ayume alone to her thoughts.

0~0~0~0~0

"But I want to party to!"

Conis shook her head. "Sorry Ayume, but Chopper specifically told me not to let you leave this place until he returns."

"Returns from partying that is!" She yelled indignantly. "Wyper got to leave so why can't I?"

"Sorry." Conis said as she walked away.

Ayume sighed and fell back onto the mattress. Chopper had carried her to the medical area they were using for the injured people. He had placed her next to Wyper, who had just left to go see the people who were at war partying the night away like nothing ever happened.

'Everyone else is injured!' She thought with a scowl thinking about how much fun Luffy and the others were probably having. She rolled over and laid on her stomach.

Her back wasn't in anymore pain, but that had to do mostly with the pain reliever that Chopper had made her drink. He had stitched her up, saying that it would scar badly. Ayume didn't mind that. She thought that scars were something to be proud of, not something that you should be ashamed to show to people and in two weeks, she would have one of her own. Well Chopper had said a month, but she needed the stitches out sooner than that if she was going to reinforce the metal in her skin.

"Conis I wanna go party to!" She suddenly sat up as she turned around ready to face the blonde skypeian, but Conis was gone. "Gone to have fun." Ayume hmphed and slouched with her hands on her chin, remembering what Conis had told her when she first woke up, wanting to go see the others.

_"Chopper said that you're very fragile right now. The seastone you had in your back has made you weaker than the rest, meaning that your injuries are the worst. He doesn't want you to risk not being able to walk again." _

_Ayume had sat up at Conis's words. "What do you mean not being able to walk again?"_

_Conis sighed and sat on the mattress, putting a hand on Ayume's arm. "The blast hit your spinal cord. If you don't give it time to heal now then you won't be able to walk anymore." _

"I hate this!" Ayume screamed as she laid back down on the bed. Chopper had said that she should have been feeling more pain then she had when she was shot, but somehow her nerve impulses had been blocked to her brain. Ayume knew how. She had long ago learned to ignore the pain of serious injuries. It was something she did unconsciously when she was in a tight situation, like still needing to fight when she had a life threatening injury.

"Aw fuck it." Ayume said as she got out of the bed. She didn't want to be the only one not having fun, she would start walking to where she could hear people screaming and dancing with joy, even if it meant risking a wheelchair for the rest of her life. She didn't plan to party hard; just sit down with a couple of drinks and watch everyone else.

All her weight was now on her legs as she straitened up and she felt the strain of not walking for a while. She then collapsed as soon as she put on foot forward.

"Well damn. Looks like Doctor Chopper was right after all." She grumbled as she crawled back on the mattress. "This is so frustrating. I can't even walk for crying out loud!"

She winced as she felt her skin start to act up. Sighing she used her devil fruit powers to pull a small strand of the metal out of her skin. It itched, but not in the pleasant way. She examined the little string. It was limp and she could tell that the lightning from Enel had weakened it. She would have to take it all out and put some more in. Bracing herself, she continued working until sunrise, when she fell asleep from over exerting herself.

0~0~0~0~0

Ayume's eyes bulged out at the sight of all the gold. There was literally a pile of it on the Going Merry and every single piece shined and sparkled in the sun.

"Wow. This is really nice gold you got." Ayume admired as she picked up a piece and inspected it. "Very good quality and well made. I can't believe this came out of that snake's stomach!"

Nami chuckled. "I know." She said proudly.

"Wait, you could tell all of that just by looking at it?" Zoro asked her.

"I picked it up too!" Ayume pointed out.

Someone touched her leg to get her attention. "Hey Ayume is that your devil fruit?"

Zoro sweatdropped. "She can tell the quantity of gold? How dumb."

Ayume's teeth turned sharp as she hit the green haired man on the head. "That's not my devil fruit power you dumbass!"

"So what is it?" Chopper asked, but was interrupted by Luffy.

"We're rich!" Luffy exclaimed. "Let's buy a gold statue! As big as we can make it!"

"NO you idiot, let's get cannons!"

"I need a refrigerator with a lock on it."

"I want books!"

"Rum, we need rum."

Nami pinched the bridge of her nose as everyone started yelling about what they wanted to buy with the gold. "Hey calm down guys! We'll decide what we need to buy when we get back in the blue seas. We're not going to be wasting my money on trash!" Nami added with a scowl at Luffy and Zoro.

"Everyone please look! We're almost at the exit!" Conis interrupted, pointing to the front.

Ayume looked to see a gate with fish on the side. It had clouds end printed on the front. Luffy had positioned himself on the sheep's head.

"We're leaving already?" He whined.

Sanji put his hands on his hips. "Yeah, I feel kind of sad."

"Time to say goodbye to this white sea." Zoro added, looking out into the clouds.

"That's ok. Sky Island was kind of scary." Chopper added.

As they approached the gate Conis and Pagaya had gotten off their boat and were running along the edge of the island clouds.

"This is as far as we can take you!" Conis yelled to them. "Take care everyone!"

"Thanks Conis!"  
>"We'll miss you!"<p>

Goodbye!"

"You must put your sail away immediately!" Pagaya ordered them and the crew listened.

"CHO CHO CHO CHO!" Came an angry squawking and the south bird that they had brought up here was furiously flying towards the ship. It landed with a crash on Luffy and continued screeching.

"It said to not forget about him." Chopper translated.

Nami held out her wrist with the log pose on it. "Ok captain, the log pose is set for the next island!"

"YOSH!" Luffy stuck his arm in the air. "Alright crew; let's go back to the blue sea!"

"Be careful of the drop!" Conis warned them as they crossed the gate.

"Drop?" Ayume asked before the ship fell down into the clouds. The girl was screaming like her life depended on it as she grabbed the mast. She screamed even more when a giant octopus flew out and grabbed the ship with its tentacles. As soon as it did, the ship stopped falling and slowed down, but Ayume failed to notice as she still had a death grip on the mast.

"Hey barnacle brain, we stopped falling so you don't need to hold on to something anymore." Ayume blinked and saw Zoro standing in front of her.

"Oh," She said, slowly letting go. "I knew that."

"Sure you did."

"I did!"

"Ayume!" Luffy yelled, suddenly in between the two arguing. "Show us your devil fruit!" He ordered and Ayume smirked.

"Alright." She said and turned to the swordsman. "Give me a sword, Zoro."

"What?" He asked, confused about if he heard her right.

"I said give me a sword." She repeated.

"No way."

"Just do it Zoro!" Luffy whined. "I wanna see what power she has!"

Zoro grumbled, but pulled a sword out. He held the hilt and stuck it out to her. Like hell he would let her hold it. Ayume seemed to guess that was what he was thinking as she moved forward and placed on hand on the tip and the other closer to the hilt. She breathed in and with surprising strength ripped it out of Zoro's hand. He let out a cry of shock that soon turned into protest, but froze when he looked at what she was now holding.

Ayume only smiled as everyone's eyes bulged out when they looked at Zoro's sword. Ayume had bent it to look like a pretzel. She was grinning ear to ear as Zoro turned red with anger.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO!"

"Nothing," She said innocently. "I just bent it a little."

"Is that your devil fruit?" Nami asked.

Ayume nodded. "Yeah. I ate the bend-bend fruit. I can bend, shape and basically control any type of metal that I want."

"Wow! So cool!" Luffy said, sparkles in his eyes. "Do that to the other two!" He demanded, pointing to Zoro's two remaining swords.

"Shut up you idiot!" The swordsman yelled at him as he cocked him on the head. "Fix it." He ordered the girl and she only smiled at him.

"What if I don't wanna?"

He then grabbed her cheek and pulled. "Do it or I'm throwing you off of this ship."

Ayume only whined and nodded. Zoro let go and the girl grumbled, sitting down on the deck.

In a few second, Zoro had his sword back and it was completely straight. He inspected it carefully, making sure she had replaced it to its original form.

"Calm down. I wouldn't leave a nook or a dent in it. I know how to treat a weapon."

Zoro only hmphed as he sat down and leaned on the railing, putting his hands behind his head. In a few minutes he was asleep and Ayume was left looking out into the sky.

* * *

><p>Ok so I have some bad news here... My finals were last week and let's say that I didn't to so hot on my grades so as punishment my mom is taking away my computer form me until I show her that I can focus on my grades... meaning that it's going to be a while before I can update.<p>

Don't fear! For I will sneak on at night time and continue to write! But this will be a very slow process because I can't stay up all night cause I have school in the morning, leaving me with about an hour or two of typing time.

And I have a question! Before they go to water 7 I'll throw in a couple of adventures that I'll make up. So do you want me to give you one of those before the davy beck arc or no?

Please leave your answer in a review or send me a private message. If no one reviews then that means that you don't care and I'll just kill eveyone in a freak boating accident! hehe Don't think I won't! :3

And PS If theirs somekind of mistake (Even if it's a spelling mistake) Please tell me! Cause I want my story to be as close to perfect that I can get with my lack of a plot and all ._. I really should have a plot...


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